Percy Jackson and the Lost God
by Momentei
Summary: Percy Jackson was a normal kid until he was thrust into a world of myths and monster. Now facing off against monsters that want to eat him and gods that mess with his life. At least he has help from the insanely powerful voice in his head. Rated t for swearing and violence
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Dreams

(Unknown POV)

My eyes are heavy. My body feels sore, like the kind of sore that you feel after taking a beating. That doesn't even begin to compare to the splitting pain that my head is feeling.

I feel the cool floor beneath me. 'I wonder if I could just stay here for a while longer' I thought, but I had the feeling that it wasn't such a good idea.

I push myself off the floor, my eyes still closed and refusing to open, and I shakily try to stand only to be stopped half way as I felt something pulling on my arms.

"What the …" I grumble to myself, my irritation growing at the feeling of restraint. As my eyes slowly open, blinking a few times to adjust to the light shining off the polished white marble floor, I see that what has been keeping me restrained are… golden chains?

My irritation shifting straight to panic as I start pulling on the chains. As I continue to pull on the chains, a booming voice draws my attention to a man sitting in a throne in front of me.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself _traitor_? The last word spit with so much venom I wouldn't have been surprised if it melted a hole in the floor. I recognized the man if not from the appearance than from the glare that I've come to associate with the face many times as I look into his electric blue eyes that pulsed with power.

"What? What are you talking about? Traitor?" my voice becoming smaller as I looked into my recent memories to find out what I had done to earn his ire this time, only to turn back to the man once he starts talking again.

"Your actions against this council and the vicious assaults against the Olympians by your hands." He says with a faint and almost unnoticeable smirk on his face.

My eyes widen as I take in where I currently am. I look around and notice the twelve different people all sitting in their own thrones giving me many different looks. Many were looks ranging from loathing and anger, to indifference while four of them had looks of sadness.

Our eyes slowly meet, going from a depressed looking man on a throne of marble decorated with seashells, to a blond man on a golden throne, then to an elfish looking man sitting on a throne of grey stone that had a staff with two snakes decorating the head that tried to send me a reassuring smile, but you could easily see through the false hope that it had, then to a small girl tending to a large hearth in the center of the room, but the sadness in her posture was evident.

Finally, my gaze meets that of the last person. Everything else goes out of focus as I look at her. A frown adorning her face as I take in her stoic features, but I can easily see past the façade and see the many emotions behind those eyes: fear, anger, sadness, regret, and the most prominent emotion. Love.

I can only take a glance at her before I hate the look she has. Wishing to never see that look of sadness on her face again.

I turn back to the man sitting in the center, briefly noticing an empty throne to my right, as he clears his throat in impatience. It took a lot of self-control to resist from rolling my eyes at his need for attention.

"So, have you any last words in defense?" he asks, clearly wanting to be rid of me sooner.

"No, I don't. my only regret is that I didn't put those bastards down more painfully for what they did." I said through grit teeth and exuding barely controlled rage.

A few of the people in the room tense in nervousness at my anger, as if they were expecting bad things to happen, however the man in front was not pleased with my answer.

"Their actions were not yours to judge!" he bellows

"And what, let them get away free of their crimes just because you favor them!" I yell back, only noticing the man in the seashell throne giving me a pleading look out of the corner of my eye, but my temper was already flaring. "They got what they wanted but broke their word, their lands were built on blood and broken oaths!

"ENOUGH!" the man bellowed.

"We shall take a vote on how to deal with _this_." He says gesturing in my direction.

"All in favor that the convicted is innocent?"

Only four of them raised their hands.

"All for guilty?"

Six hands go up and I feel my hopes drop lower, and the hearth reacts by dropping in size, barely emitting warmth.

The only people that didn't vote were a chubby little man snoring in his throne in the corner. 'Useless. Seriously why is he even here!' I think to myself as those thoughts automatically rush into my head when I see him.

As well as the love of my life. I honestly don't blame her. Our relationship is some thing that wasn't supposed to happen, and yet it did. I've put her in an impossible position. I've already forgiven her, knowing that she is hating herself for not fighting for me, I just hope she knows it. Besides the end result would have been the same. The little fatty in the corner would have voted against me if he were awake.

The man in the center, with a victorious smirk on his face, rises from his throne and walks in front of my kneeling form. 'Ugh no wonder these chains are so short, bet he's getting a real laugh about this position.'

"Through some 'counsel.' He says while sparing a glance at the man in the seashell throne, and I internally wince as 'counsel' is replaced by 'begging' in my mind. 'I have decided against a death sentence. Instead you shall be banished, and erased from history, to be forgotten by the world." He finishes.

The man in the seashell throne immediately stands. "Brother, please reconsider this." He says in a soft voice that doesn't fit the power and authority this man has.

The 'Brother' opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it, "Father," I address him, "please, you have done more than enough for me, don't subjugate yourself to him for me."

My father looks into my eyes for a moment, then his gaze hardens with resolve as he sits back on his throne. "Of course, son, but I swear that I won't let another of my children face injustices like this again."

I give him a nod and smile that shows both respect and love for my father.

The brother exasperatedly says', "Are you done yet?"

This time letting my eyes roll. "No, this is my trial so I'm going to say goodbye."

The 'Brother' gives a huff and rolls his hand in a 'go on' motion.

As I turn around facing the other three with a confident smile on my face, before my eyes lock onto the woman's gaze just a bit longer, in the hopes of conveying a silent message.

"You don't have to look so sad. Geez you make it seem like I'm dying or something" I say putting some cheer in my voice. I always was an amazing actor if I say so myself.

"Don't worry about me. I always survive, remember? This isn't the end. It's just goodbye… for now." I said as I watch their miserable features slightly shift to watery smiles. The woman's eyes glazing with what looks like restrained tears.

I turn back to the 'Brother'. "And for you." My features becoming serious. "The earth stirs in anticipation for war. There will come a day that all of your pride will come back to bite you, and you will have to ask for help from those that you deem as inferior."

The 'Brother' narrows his eyes. "You dare threaten us!?"

"No not threaten, only warn." I reply coolly.

"Fine then, if that is all then I banish you from these halls!" he yells before hurtling what looks like a bolt of lightning that hits me square in the chest.

I feel immense pain before my vision fades. In the darkness I can only think one thing.

_She has such beautiful eyes  
_

_Line Break_

At that moment a young Percy Jackson wakes from his sleep in a cold sweat.

He clutches his chest. Trying to feel for a wound that the dream lightning bolt had left.

Looking to his left his digital clock reading 3:41 A.M. he plops back down onto his bed trying to fall back to sleep while listening to his roommate Grover snoring.

The only thought he had before drifting back to sleep was, "What the hell?"


	2. Chapter 1:Am I Going Insane

Percy speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

**The Voice**

**All characters are owned by Rick**

**Chapter 1**

Am I Going Insane?

**(Percy P.O.V)**

"**Hey! Wake up! You're going to be late."**

"MMM… five more minutes." I mumbled out loud not bothering to listen to the unfamiliar male voice.

"**No not five more minutes. You need to get up."** The voice said with some slight irritation bleeding through.

"Grover not now." Was my response as I turned over in my bed trying to hide under the sheets.

"**Huh, so be it then."**

Before I could respond I immediately felt myself flung off my bed and onto the floor. Immediately getting up, "Grover what the…heck? I start only to look around my room seeing that I was the only one in it. Behind me the door opens, and my best friend Grover hobbles through the door with his crutches. He was one of the few if only friend that I had at Yancy academy. He was scrawny, he cried when he got frustrated. Not to mention that he looked like he had been held back several grades because he was the only sixth grader with acne and a wispy beard on his chin. Not to mention that he was crippled on top of all that. He had a muscular disease in his legs that made it look like every step was painful, but that doesn't stop him from somehow managing to beat everyone in school to the cafeteria on enchilada day.

"Yo Perce you up yet we have to… leave… soon? What are you doing on the floor?" he asks with a raised brow.

Trying to save what little self-image that I had still I replied "Uh… push-ups?"

"Wrapped in a blanket? Sureee." He drew out the rest of the sentence as if trying to force the connection. "Anyways you need to get ready cause we'll be leaving for the field trip soon."

Looking back at the clock next to my bed I realize just how late it really is and scramble to get ready.

Now normally I wouldn't care about field trips, whenever I went on one bad thing tend to happen. Like that one time my class and I visited the Saratoga battle field and even though I didn't mean to I blew up our bus with an old revolutionary war cannon. In the fourth grade my old class and I went to Marine world for a behind the scenes tour, and I touched the wrong lever on the catwalk and my entire class took an unplanned swim.

As I pulled over a clean shirt, I hear a faint chuckle in the back of my head while thinking of my past field trips. I look over at Grover to see if he was laughing only to find him waiting for me by the door. "_Maybe I'm hearing things."_ I thought to myself as I got finished getting dressed.

Before leaving the room, I take one last look inside expecting to see who ever I had heard earlier. Seeing no one in the room I shake my head and hurry after Grover, planning on being good and possibly learning something on this field trip.

_Line Break_

It has been less than half an hour since I left my dorm room this morning and I was already planning on murdering someone. This someone being Nancy Bobofit. A red headed kleptomaniac with crooked yellow teeth.

Nancy was meanwhile tossing pieces of her peanut butter and ketchup sandwich at Grover's head getting stuck in his hair.

"**Ugh, peanut butter and ketchup together? That's disgusting."**

I didn't bother paying attention to the statement as I was working on controlling my anger. The only reason I hadn't decked her was because the vice principal had threatened me with death by in school suspension. It always happens, whenever something exciting, strange or wrong happens on a field trip I get blamed.

"That's it I'm going to kill her!" I grumbled, gripping the seat in front of me till my knuckles turned white.

Grover tried to calm me down. "It's ok. I like peanut butter." He then dodges another chunk that went his way.

"That's it!" I started to get up only for Grover to pull me back down.

"Are you crazy! Your already on probation." He reminded me "You know that you're the one that will get blamed if something happens. I nodded my head in defeat yet still wishing I had decked her.

Then as Nancy was getting prepared to throw the rest of her sandwich at Grover's head, a car races in front of the bus causing the driver to have to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. During that time Nancy's head whips forward, faceplanting into the sandwich that she was holding, getting it all over her face and up her nose. Internally I was laughing uncontrollably at her misfortune.

"**Small miracles."** The voice chuckles

My head whips up scanning around to see who the voice belongs to but have no such luck and sit back down in my seat. Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I think _"Maybe today will go fine."_

If only I knew of the mess, I'd get myself into later.

_Line Break_

Mr. Brunner, my Latin teacher, led the museum tour. He was a middle-aged guy in a motorized wheel chair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard, and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled of coffee for some reason. You wouldn't think that he'd be cool, but he told stories, jokes, and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so his class was the only one I didn't sleep in.

He rode in front of the group in his motorized wheelchair, guiding use through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases filled with old black and orange pottery.

"**Hm. A Caeretan Hydria depicting Hercules slaying the hydra. Pretty shoddy upkeep and the piece itself is second rate pottery at best."**

I turn around looking to see where the voice was coming from, only to find no one near me. Curiously a glance at a piece of pottery in a glass case to my left. The plastic card on the case reads 'Caeretan Hydria. Dated: 520-510 b.c'

Taking my gaze away from the piece of art I look around to find that my class is already rounding the corner at the end of the hall. I have to jog back over to them, hoping that none of the teachers notice my absence and decide that I tried to steal some of the art work. Although I wouldn't mind having some stuff like this, it blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.

I rejoined the group as we gathered around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top. Mr. Brunner was telling us about how it was a grave marker, a stele for a girl our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everyone around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to drive a Harley into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, after our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was a devil spawn. She would point a finger at me and say, "Now Honey," real sweet and I knew I was going to get after school detention for a month. One time, after she'd make me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight. I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "Your absolutely right."

Mr. Brunner kept talking about the Greek funeral art.

At the same time the voice decided to make itself known again**.**

"**The man in the pictures name was Phaleras, I think he died around 769 B.C." **The voice began talking at the same time as Mr. Brunner.

Then Nancy began to snicker something about the naked guy on the stele, and then I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?" hoping to quiet both so I could listen to Mr. Brunner.

It managed to silence both of them, but it came out louder than I meant it to.

The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. "Mr. Jackson," he said, "Did you have a comment?"

My face went totally red. I said, "No, sir."

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele, "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

I looked at the carving and almost let out a sigh of relief because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied with the answer.

"_Come on." _I thought,_ "I got the right answer."_

"**Maybe he wants you to elaborate?"** The voice speaks up, trying to sound helpful.

"And he did this because…" Mr. Brunner drew out waiting for me to answer.

"Well…" I racked my brain trying to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and—"

"God?" Mr. Brunner asked

"**He was a titan." **the voice corrected me.

"Titan," I corrected myself. "And… he didn't trust his kids, who were gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead."

"**I wonder how ugly of a baby he was to be mistaken for a rock?"** the voice muttered to itself.

I could feel my lips tug upwards a bit into a smile at the funny thought but pushed it back to finish the explanation.

"And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—"

"Eeww!" said a girl behind me.

"—and so, there was this big fight between the Gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the Gods won."

In an incredulous tone **"You just managed to dumb down ten years of war and bloodshed in just a few sentences."**

I ignored it. Behind me Nancy Bobofit mumbled to her friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like its going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

"And why Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover muttered

"Shut up." Nancy hissed, her face becoming brighter red than her hair.

At least Nancy got caught too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. It was like he had radar ears.

I was about to admit that I didn't know the answer when my mouth started to move on its own.

"**I think that the stories and myths apply lessons on our morality. That even Gods and heroes are subjected to their flaws and we can learn from their mistakes and better ourselves as well as learn from the ingenuity that these figures possess."**

I blink. I don't remember ever sounding so smart. Apparently, Mr. Brunner was also a little caught off guard at my response, but it only lasted a split second before a smile appeared on his face. "That is correct Mr. Jackson, full credit. Now Zeus—"

As Mr. Brunner went on my mind was racing at what just came out of my mouth. I know that that couldn't have been me because it felt like my mouth was moving by itself, that I had no control.

Mr. Brunner broke me back from my musings. "—on that happy note, its time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around acting like doofuses. Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."

I wondered what he was going to tell me. I told Grover to keep going. Then turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go—intense brown eyes that could've seemed a thousand years old and had seen everything.

"I am surprised by your answer Mr. Jackson, but I knew you had it in you. Good work. What you learn from your studies here will be of vital importance to you. As such I will only accept the best from you Percy Jackson."

It felt good to be acknowledged by him. Even if I did feel a little guilty about taking credit for something that I didn't do. Mr. Brunner always expected me to be as good as, if not better than everyone else. Despite the fact that I've never made more than a C- in my entire life and had a hard-enough time remembering all of the names and facts, much less spell them correctly. But it still felt good to get his approval. As I was walking out I noticed him taking a long sad look at the stele, like he had been to the girl's funeral.

"**He probably has."** The voice pipes up after the long bought of silence.

I take a look around trying to find it only to see that I'm still alone. _"Great now I guess the voice is in my head. I guess I can add schizophrenia to the list of problems that is my life."_

_Line Break_

The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. Overhead a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snowstorms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if there was a hurricane blowing in.

"**Meh, it's not that impressive."**

At this point I had decided to ignore the voice. After all admitting that there is a voice in my head would be admitting that I was going crazy. Right?

No one else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting the pigeons with crackers. Nancy was busy trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. Grover and I sat on the edge by the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from _that _school—the school for loser freaks that didn't belong anywhere else.

"What did he want?" Grover asked.

"He wanted to say how well I did."

Grover didn't say anything for a while. I had expected to pat me on the back or say words of encouragement. Instead he said, "Can I have your apple?"

I didn't really want it so I gave it to him.

I watched to endless lines of cares going down Fifth Avenue and thought of my mom's apartment. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so badly to just hop in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but disappointed before sending me back to Yancy, telling me to try harder even though this was the sixth school I had attended in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again.

"**Not with that attitude."**

Again, ignoring the voice in my head. I turn too see Mr. Brunner parking his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while reading a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair. This made it look like a motorized café table.

I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy appeared in front of me with her ugly friends- I guess she had gotten tired of stealing from tourists—she dumped the rest of her lunch into Grover's lap.

"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. I tried to keep my cool. Just like the school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten and breathe in and out."

"**Come on deep breathes, she's not worth it. Focus on one thing."** The voice says in a soothing tone, trying to calm me down. For once I listen to the voice and focus my anger. But that focus just so happened to be Nancy. I heard a wave in my ears and I blinked.

I couldn't even remember what had happened, only that Nancy's next words snapped me out of my trance.

"Percy pushed me!"

Mrs. Dodds seemed to materialize right next to me.

The other kids were whispering behind me.

"Did you see—"

"The water—"

"…grabbed her."

I had no idea what they were talking about. All that I knew was that I was in trouble… again.

As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure that Nancy was ok, promising to get her a new shirt from the gift shop etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned to me. There was a triumphant fir in her eyes, like I had done something she was waiting for all semester.

"Now, Honey—"

"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing textbooks."  
**"What are you doing!? You never guess a punishment that only makes it worse!" **The voice said, and I had the strangest sense that it was shaking its head.

It seemed that the voice was right and it wasn't the right thing to say.

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said

"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."

"**Damn, the kids actually got a back bone. Who knew."** The voice said

I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't help but agree with the voice. This was totally out of left field for Grover. Mrs. Dodds usually scared Grover to death.

She glared at him, but I knew he was scared based on how his whiskers trembled.

"I don't think so Mr. Underwood." She said

"But—"

"You. Will. Stay. Here!"

Grover looked at me desperately.

"Its okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."

"Honey," She barked "Now."

Nancy smirked at me. I gave her my best deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the large steps, waiting for me impatiently.

When did she get up there so fast?

I have moments like that a lot. Like my brain short circuits or something and the next thing that I know is that I've missed something going on and I'm left staring at a blank space. The counselor told me it was apart of my ADHD acting up and misinterpreting things.

I wasn't so sure.

"**You know your right. Your mind is hyper focusing on a specific detail, blocking out all nonessential information."**

"_What? Really?"_ I thought back to the voice.

"**Oh, great finally you respond. I've been trying to talk to you for a while now." **The voice said.

"_Oh yeah the imaginary voice in my head is totally real and worth talking to."_ My thoughts laced with sarcasm.

"**Oh, come on you make it sound like I'm asking you to sacrifice souls to me."**

"_Are you?"_

"**NO! Why would anyone want that? I'd prefer it if you sacrificed bacon or some Chinese food though."**

"_Whatever this conversation is over."_ I said putting a stop to the mental stop to this conversation.

"**Fine, fine, but seriously beware Mrs. Dodds she's dangerous and will only bring you trouble."**

"_Of course, she'll bring me trouble she has it out for me." _I think noticing just now that I'm already at the top of the steps following her into the museum.

"_Great I did it again." _I thought.

Looking at Mrs. Dodds I notice that she has somehow made it to the end of the entrance hall. _"Okay,"_ I thought. _"I guess I'm going to have to buy Nancy a new shirt from the gift shop."_

But that apparently wasn't the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. The gallery was empty except for us.

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.

Looking at the frieze myself I feel an unexplainable rise of anger towards the figure holding the lightning bolt.

"_Woah. Where did that come from?"_ I thought to myself. Shaking my head, I turn back to Mrs. Dodds. Growing more nervous. I always felt weird being alone with a teacher, especially her. The way she was looking at the frieze, like she wanted to destroy it.

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said

I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes ma'am."

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think that you would get away with it?"

The look in her eyes was one of evil. I mean she's a teacher, she's not going to hurt me.

"I'll—I'll try harder ma'am." I said. Though I didn't really believe it myself. Thunder then shook the building. It's like the world knew I was lying.

"We are not fools Percy Jackson." Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." I had no idea what we were talking about. The only things that I could think of were the illegal stash of candy that I was selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realize that I got my written report on Tom Sawyer from the internet without ever reading the book and were now going to take away my grade. Or worse, they'll make me read the book.

"**You are the lowest standard of criminal, you know that right?"** The voice says with slight exasperation.

"_Shut. Up."_ I thought

"Well?" she asks

"Ma'am I don't…"

"Your time is up." She hissed

"**Oh, watch out for the claws."** The voice warns.

"_Wait what?"_

I looked back to at Mrs. Dodds and the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like hot coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs. I think the voice was right to avoid the claws.

Then things got even stranger. Mr. Brunner, who was out side the museum a minute ago, shows up with a pen in hand.

"What ho, Percy." He shouted and threw the pen at me.

"**Uncap the pen. You'll know what to do."**

Then Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp I ducked as she flew over me. I felt her talons lash the air near my ear. Grabbing the pen out of the air and uncapping it like the voice said. Only to watch as it turned into a sword—Mr. Brunner's sword, the one he always used on tournament day. Mrs. Dodds turned back to me with a look of murder in her eyes.

My knees were shaking. I could barely hold the sword. "Die honey!" she snarled and flew strait at me. I was terrified, but as she flew towards me it felt like the world was slowing down. I felt something in my body move, as if it was guiding my body in the right direction. The movement felt natural, and I followed through with it swinging the sword. The metal hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body like paper.

Mrs. Dodds exploded in a pile of golden dust. Leaving nothing but the pile on the floor, the smell of sulfur, and the chill of evil in the air, as if those glowing red eyes were still watching me.

I was now alone. With a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr. Brunner had disappeared. That's it. I'm going insane. Demon math teachers, sword pens, and a voice in my head.

"_Yep. Totally going insane."_ I thought. For once the voice was silent.

As I headed out side I noticed that it was raining. Grover was still by the fountain, using a museum map to block the rain. Nancy was still standing there getting wet from the rain, grumbling to her friends.

When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

"Who?" I replied

"Our teacher, duh"

I blinked. We didn't have a teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and walked away. I turned to Grover asking where Mrs. Dodds was. He asked "Who?" But he paused first, and his eyes never met mine, so I thought he was messing with me.

"Not funny man," I told him. "I'm being serious,"

Thunder boomed in the sky

I looked to find Mr. Brunner sitting in the same spot outside the museum, still reading his book under his umbrella. I went over to him. He looked up at me. "Ah that would be my pen. Please remember to bring your own utensils next time Mr. Jackson."

I hadn't even realized I still had it. Handing it back over to him asking, "Sir where is Mrs. Dodds?"

He stared at me blankly. "Who?"

"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."

He frowned and sat forward with a concerned look on his face. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy academy. Are you alright?"

"Yeah… Yeah. I think that I just need some rest. Its been a long day." I respond turning to leave.

"All right Mr. Jackson. I'll see you back on the bus." He says before preparing to pack up his belongings.

"_Maybe I am going insane. That couldn't have happened."_ I thought trying to reassure myself.

"**It did happen. Their lying to you but for good reason. Don't think too badly of them." **The voice tried to reason with me.

"_Great now I'm taking advice from an imaginary voice in my head. I really am going insane and everyone wants to play a joke on me."_ I thought to myself.

"**No, Grover and Mr. Brunner are the only ones who remember Dodds. But don't bother asking them about it they'll just deny it."**

"_And how do you know this! Your just an annoying voice in my head. You don't even exist!" _I think to myself, my irritation slowly growing.  
**"I exist Percy, I am very much real. And I can affect the world around you. I caused the bus to suddenly stop, and I guided your sword when you destroyed Dodds remember." **The voice says.

"_Yeah right that was a fluke. Pure luck." _I reason.

"**Oh really?"** The voice asks. Then a large blast of wind hits me knocking me onto my back. I blink wondering what just happed. Then my body again moves on its own and does a kick up, landing back on my feet. I know I didn't do that. I wasn't I control of my body when it happened and I've never been able to do a kick up before (Believe me I've tried, multiple times.).

"**Believe me now?"** The voice asks. A tinge of amusement being heard.

"_Ok so let's say that I believe you."_ I say, still wrapping my head around what happened. _"What are you, why are you in my head, and who are you?"_

"**Well kid, answer number one is that I am an ancient being of great power, and don't give me that look,"** He says cutting off what I was about to say.** "I can't tell you more than that or else things may happen sooner than they should. Answer number two is that I have a feeling that you'll do great things in the future, and I'm here to help you get through it. And the last question. Well, my name is…"**

"**Adamos"**


	3. Chapter 2:The Elderly are Terrifying

People speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

**Adamos in Percy's mind **

_**Adamos speaking through Percy**_

**All characters are owned by Rick **

**Chapter 2**

Maybe The Elderly Are Terrifying

(Percy's P.O.V.)

I slowly found myself listening to the voice in my head. Now I know that sounds crazy, but he's been the only one I can talk to about what happened. Somehow the entire campus has forgotten about Mrs. Dodds. No matter who I asked, the students were convinced that Mrs. Kerr had been our math teacher since Christmas. Any mention of Mrs. Dodds would get me looks like I'm some sort of mental case.

Which I'm not!

I think.

Anyways, other than Adamos, as he named himself, the only other evidence I had on Mrs. Dodds was Grover. He couldn't fool me… I could easily see that he was lying since his eyes never met mine when the subject came up, and he would always hesitate before he tried to deny her existence.

The freak weather continued, which didn't help much with my mood. Although Adamos was very good at keeping me on track with my studies. While he wouldn't tell me what I wanted to know he kept trying to make up for it my training me. Helping me with my school work, writing papers, and even getting me to work out because I was apparently too skinny.

This has been going on for weeks and I can honestly say that this is the best I've been doing in a school yet. I might even be invited back next year if I'm lucky, but I knew better than to get my hopes up. Adamos was a good tutor but he never gave me the answers out right to any questions, just hints.

It was during one of our study sessions while Grover was out of the room that my curiosity about him overflowed.

"Hey Adamos."

"**Yeah?"**

"What exactly are you?" I asked.

"**I thought we went over this Perce. I'm an"**

"Ancient all-powerful being yada yada. I know that. What about where you came from?" I speak out loud cutting him off.

"**First off there are other beings like me. Very few are as close to my level of power, and even fewer can match it let alone exceed it. Your most likely going to learn about them or maybe meet some of them soon and they would kill you for interrupting them if not less."**

"Wait there are more of you!? And why would they want to kill me?" The questions spewing out.

"**Yes, there are more of my kind. And some would try to kill you. Whether its because of personal reasons or they might just dislike you because of da…"** he stops mid-sentence. **"Never mind. Just try not to piss them off."**

"Wait! What were you about to say!" I asked/yelled

"**Uhm—your—eaking up. I—n't—ear you. Krrck"**

"There's no interference when your in my head."

"**All right just drop it. You got finals tomorrow and you want to do well to impress your mom, right? I promise I'll explain everything to you when the time is right but for now just study."**

"But," I try to learn more only to give up when he starts playing 'Thunderstruck' in my head.

Something was going on and Adamos wasn't telling me the entire truth. Something about the less knowing and curious cats and all that. He promised to tell me more when the time was right but not now. I gave up trying to pry after a while. No point if he can apparently start playing music in my head at a loud volume. Now you may have misheard me, I didn't say he was just singing or humming. No, he can 'play' actual music in my head. You try interrogating someone when you have AC/DC blaring in your head with him singing along. Although he did take requests, and it helped whenever I had nightmares about Mrs. Dodds. But he was sort of right, I did have finals tomorrow and this was my chance to really impress my mother. With that I picked up _Cambridge guide to Greek Mythology_ and studied for my Latin final, trying to ignore the swimming words.

"_Stupid dyslexia."_ I thought. _"Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. I don't want to leave him thinking I'm not trying."_

Walking downstairs I walk towards Mr. Brunners office door… a voice that was definitely Grover's said, "…worried about Percy sir."

I froze, straining my ears to listen to what they were discussing about me. I moved closer.

"Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."

"But sir, he saw her…"— "I can't fail my duty again."— "you know what that would mean."

"You haven't… lets just worry about keeping Percy alive until next autumn—"

Then in that moment either the most unexpected or expected thing happened. My mythology text book hit the floor.

Mr. Brunner went silent. A shadow slid across the glass on his door… holding something that looked like a bow.

Looking around I jumped into the nearest door and slipped inside. A large dark shape paused in front of the door, the shadow easily being taller than my teacher. I pressed myself further into the dark room, trying to will myself to disappear. A bead of sweat trickles down my neck. A few seconds later I hear a slow clop—clop—clop sound getting fainter. Like wooden blocks walking away

"Nothing…My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."

"Mine neither." Grover replied. "But I could have sworn…"

"It's best that you get back to your room. You have a long day of exams tomorrow."

I waited a bit longer till I was confident they left. Sneaking back to my room as quietly as I could.

"_Adamos. Did you hear what they were talking about?"_ I thought

"**Yeah. What you hear I hear."**

"_What do you think they meant by the winter solstice.?"_

"…"

"_Adamos. Tell me, please."_

"**Alright,"** he says caving for the first time.** "I don't really know what happened on the solstice since they kicked me out, but the solstice is an annual meeting where they discuss important matters."**

"_Woah really? Wait why were you kicked out?"_ I questioned.

"**Its… complicated. I'll just say that I used to hold one of the highest positions there was, but some things happened, and it led to me getting voted out, end of story."**

"_oh, ok."_ I could tell from his tone that that was the end of the story. I knew there was more there but trying to get more out would have to be later as I just made it back to my room. I opened the door to find Grover sitting on his bed, like he had never left.

"Hey, you ready for the test?"

I didn't answer. I turned to face him, keeping a blank expression on my face and getting ready for bed.

From what they were talking about downstairs and what Adamos had told me there was a good reason to believe that I was in danger, or at least a topic of interest for these all-powerful beings. I honestly didn't know how I was supposed to feel about all of this so I decided to just get some sleep.

**Line Break**

It was the next afternoon and I was just finished with the Latin exam. As some one who can barely sit still in a regular test, sitting for three hours was pure hell. Adamos said that he wouldn't be helping me cheat on this test by giving me answers which sucked. What was the point of having an all knowing, powerful voice in your head if you can't get away with a few things, but apparently, he thinks it will inhibit my 'growth' if I rely on him too much, whatever that means?

Looking at the test and reviewing over my answers didn't help, my eyes were swimming with the Greek and Roman names that I most likely misspelled. After I had turned in the test Mr. Brunner called me back to his desk. For a moment I thought that he found out that I was ease dropping last night, but that didn't seem to be what he wanted to talk about.

"Percy," he said "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's… It's for the best."

His tone was kind, but his words hurt and embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids that had finished their exams could hear him. Nancy smirked at me and made sarcastic kissy face gestures at me.

I mumbled, "Okay, sir." My eyes stung. He was my favorite teacher. Telling me that I was destined to fail the entire time.

"I mean," he began, moving his wheel chair back and forth like he was trying to pick out his next words. "This isn't the right place for you, it was only a matter of time."

He kept saying that he believed in me all year. That he expected me to be better than everyone else.

"Right." I mumbled

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said, "Oh, confound it all. Percy, what I'm trying to say… you're not normal Percy. That isn't anything to be—"

"Thanks," I blurted out. "Thanks for reminding me sir."

"Percy—"

Before he could finish, I was already out the door.

"**Wow that could have gone better."** Adamas said.

"_Shut. Up. I'm not in the mood."_

"**I don't think that he meant to discourage you. He knows what you are. You aren't like the other kids here. Not really human."**

"_Oh, great now your telling me that I'm a freak as well."_ I say getting angry.

"**What no! I… Jeez I'm just as bad at this as he is. Ok, ok what I meant to say is that your half human." **He tried to explain.

"_So, I'm less than human!?"_

"**No, no actually your more than human Percy. Your better than human. Your half human and half of what I am."**

"_What are you then!? You said I can trust you, that you'll tell me what's going." _I thought to myself as I arrived at my room, flopping onto the bed with the grace of a bag of potatoes._ "But so far you've just been telling me to wait, and that you'll tell me when the time was right. When is the right time.!?"_

"…**," **Adamos stays silent for a while before finally speaking. **"All right. It's close enough to the time that I can tell you more."**

"_Wait, really!"_ I think, quickly sitting up on my bed. I'll admit that I was being childish in how I was talking to him earlier. After all he's done nothing but try to help me since he showed up weeks ago, but I didn't expect him to actually open up more since he's refused to tell me for weeks. To say I was curious at the moment was an understatement. _"So… what can you tell me?"_

"**Tell me, do you remember the Greek Gods that you were studying yesterday?"**

"_Uh, yeah.?"_ I responded not really knowing where he was going with it.

"**Well, they exist. They are still around and have been guiding western civilization since Greece, and I am one of them."**

After having that bombshell dropped on me, I respond in the most intelligent way possible._ "Oh,"_

"**I just shatter your views on reality and the only response is 'Oh'?"**

"_Uhm, sorry."_ I think back, trying to fight back the blush of embarrassment that is spreading all over my face, _"So if I'm half what you are, does that mean I'm part god? _I ask.

"**Yes, but demigod is the actual term. It means that one of your parents is a god, and since I know you live with your mom that means your dad is a god. And no, I'm not your dad Percy so don't even ask." **He quickly cuts me off.

"_Oh. Do you at least know who he is?"_ I think to him with a bit of hope.

"**I have a good idea but it's best not to reveal it because I could be wrong and it's best you don't go claiming yourself as another god's kid. Who knows what would happen if you did? You'll just have to wait until he claims you as his son."** Adamos warns.

"_Ok got it. Wait if you're a Greek god how come I've never heard of you. You weren't mentioned in the book at all."_

"**Whether you believe it or not I was actually an Olympian. I was part of the council, but I did something that got me banished from Olympus. And since your you you'll probably going to ask what I did so I'll only give you two words: scorched earth."**

"_I wasn't going to ask, "_I lied_. "but what kind of god are you? _

. **"Well young Perseus—"**

"_Please just Percy, I hate my full name it sounds to formal for me."_

"**Nah." **He replies not even thinking it over. **"Well young Perseus allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Adamos. The first-born son of Poseidon, god of the seas, storms, earthquakes and horses, and Asteria, the Titaness of nocturnal oracles, falling stars, and necromancy. The first god born after the six children of Kronos and Rhea. I am the former Olympian god of earth, destruction and disasters, battle and weapon skills, constellations and stars, falling stars, deep waters, currents, volcanoes, life, miracles, stories, entertainment, knowledge, creativity, exploration, woodcraft and minor god of art, sorcery, waves, and night."**

"_Wait isn't Gaia the earth goddess?"_

"**Yes, she is, but so am I. You could say I'm one level down on the list of authorities for the earth domain. There are many minor gods and goddesses that share domains. But many of these domains I do have I also share with other gods. Hephaestus and I share the volcano domain but use it for different things.**

"_How so?"_

"**Well Hephaestus uses volcanoes to power his forges, that's usually why they erupt. Mine works with my domains of deep waters, earth, and life to create islands from the seas. That's not to say I can't cause eruptions when I want but that's what I used to use it for." **

"_Wow. You sound seriously over powered." _I thought.

He chuckled.** "Yeah I guess so. But some of the Olympians have just as many domains as I do. The just have a less physical impact on the world unlike me. Seriously, have you seen Hermes and Athena's domain lists. They are just as long as mine, just that they represent mostly ideas and concepts instead. The only reason I have so many is because I was born before the end of the first titan war and they needed to fill the positions of the titans that lost the war. That, and the broad list of domains let me do one of my jobs of freely traveling lands and other gods domains documenting any discoveries and historical events that happen in the world. I actually had a book that held most of the collected knowledge of the world in it. Like a godly Google, but that's hidden away somewhere."**

"_Well what else can you do?"_ I was becoming more curious about the god that lived in my head, _"Wait can I do any of the things you can while you're in me?"_

"**All right Perce, but that's the last question. You should be able to use many of my godly powers on a smaller scale. Can't have you trying to use my power the way I can otherwise your body would disintegrate from all the energy you're trying to use over powering your mortal half. I can help you out to certain degrees, but again I can't use too much power, or it could kill you. If we threw safety out the window I can match gods like Zeus and my father Poseidon in terms of power for storms a bit before your body is destroyed, but control is another matter. Zeus has better control over lightning while I can summon lightning in a generalized area. Same with floods and tidal waves for my father. But no one is better at land related disasters than me. Father might be the god of earthquakes, but I was the original earth shaker"** He finishes with pride in his voice. **"Alright you got your info, you happy yet?"**

"_Come on can't you tell me more?"_

"**No. Frankly I'm tired of talking about myself and it's kinda bringing back some old memories. Just—go to sleep Perce. You're heading home tomorrow, aren't you?"** He had quickly changed the subject. Like before this usually meant that the conversation was over.

"_Yeah. Good night." _I thought.

"**Night."** He replied

Slowly I fall to sleep not knowing of the dream that I would soon be experiencing.

**Line Break**

I open my eyes to see I'm no longer in my dorm. Looking around I see that I'm high up, on a mountain most likely, I could see a large forest at the base of the mountain that extends for miles as well as numerous clouds formed below me. Turning around I could see a beautiful garden built into the mountain. Looking past it was a city of impressive buildings. I'm not really into architecture or really art for that matter but even I could admire the beauty and effort of the craftsmanship. I tried to call out for someone to tell me where I was, but my voice didn't work. I kept trying to get some one's attention until I hear two voices coming my way.

Into the garden walks a young man that looks to be in his sixteens along with an older man that couldn't have been more than thirty, both wearing Greek armor, their bodies well-built and toned yet not overly muscled. They seemed to have a slightly bulkier swimmers build and both standing at a bit more than six foot. The older man had messy raven hair and was sporting a beard that made him seem more distinguished. His sea green eyes were mesmerizing as if the flowed like waves, containing barely restrained power. He had a strong jaw with a slightly upturned nose. There was something about him that just screamed familiar but seemed wrong. As if the grim and stern expression on his face didn't seem natural to him. The younger man bore a striking resemblance to the older man. While his hair was black in color with streaks of glowing silver white running through it, it was longer and almost reached his shoulders. His face was a bit more defined with a strong angular jaw, with lightly high cheekbones and a straight Greek nose. What was most interesting were his eyes however. The iris seemed to shift in color. The outside of the iris was a light oceanic blue that shifted to a sandy golden ring that melted into tropical green before meeting the pupil. To me his eyes looked like tropical islands in the middle of the ocean. Overall either of these men could have easily outclassed any male supermodel or actor in the looks department.

I was broken out of my staring when they started a rather heated conversation.

"I don't understand why you don't let me help you father!?" The younger man said. His voice sounding familiar.

"Because you are to young to face them and you're not ready." The older man reasoned in a calm but authoritative manner.

The younger man just glared back at him. I instinctively flinch at the glare, feeling that his bad side is not something that I want to be on. "How am I not ready? I regularly spar with you and uncle. I've killed their patrols by myself before they get anywhere near our bases or routes. I can fight with you on the battle field." The younger man argues.

"That isn't the point," the older man says pinching the bridge of his nose, like they've had this conversation many times before. "Look, I know your skilled, but this war is dangerous and you're my only son. I couldn't bear it if something were to happen to you while I was there and could have done something. Besides you help plenty in the strategy meetings and leading the defenses of Olympus. And need I remind you that we let you lead a raid on to one of their strong holds earlier this year." The older man's voice becoming more soothing but held a hint of pride in it as he kept talking.

"Exactly what more reason. The war is coming to a close—"

"Son." The older man tries to interrupt.

"so, we need every able bod—"

"Son." His voice getting louder.

"Then we can end this war much earli—"

"ADAMOS!" the older man yells.

The younger man who I now know as Adamos, finally putting a face to the voice in my head, immediately stops talking.

The older man, who I now figure is Poseidon from what Adamos told me earlier, just laughs at Adamos. "Your rambling again son."

"Sorry father." Adamos sighs.

"Don't be," Poseidon says "It just shows how dedicated and focused you are. Now I know you want to be with us during the final battles, but I have a feeling that something will happen when we are away. It would make me feel much better if you were to stay here and protect Olympus while were gone." Poseidon says, placing a hand on Adamos's shoulder.

Adamos tries to keep his gaze on his father before his expression crumbles. "Alright father. If you think that's best." He says with a sigh before he breaks into a smile.

"Come, I heard your Auntie Hestia baked some more of those desserts. I'd like to get there before your Uncle Zeus tries to horde them all." Poseidon begins to walk off. Behind him Adamos shakes his head before jogging after his father hoping to get to the desserts before anyone else.

I watched with fascination at the 'gods'. I had expected them to be all formal and regal. They still were but at the same time they acted more like a family than anything else. It made me wish that I had a father that cared like that.

Then everything fades away.

**Line Break**

It was the last day of the term and I was trying to shove the rest of my clothes into my suit case.

"**You know it's going to fit better if you actually fold them."** Adamos suggests. Since last night I haven't asked him any questions. I'm not sure what the dream was supposed to mean but I'll admit that I was a little jealous that he had a father that cared so much.

"_Hey! I got them to fit the last time. I can do it again."_ I retort still having difficulty closing my suit case.

The other guys around me were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. I was half listening in on their conversation, they were talking about Switzerland and other vacation spots that me and my mom could never afford to go to. You see these kids were juvenile delinquents, trouble makers, problem children and a bunch of other labels. The only difference was that these were rich delinquents. Their parents were rich people. You know the politicians, the celebrities, and the company executives. I probably would have felt jealous if it weren't for the fact that according to Adamos my dad is an immortal god. Even if I was still a bit skeptical about all of it, it felt good not to be an unimportant nobody in their groups.

"Hey Percy, what are you doing this summer?"

"Huh?" I was look over at their group.

"I asked what you were doing this summer?" One of them asked.

"Oh, uh I'm actually going back to the city this summer." I reply. I didn't feel like telling them that the purpose was to get a summer job walking dogs or selling newspapers or something. That and trying to figure out where to go to school next year, even with Adamo's help it wasn't enough to get invited back. Maybe I could convince him to just give me the answers to my tests next time, or better yet just take them for me.

"Oh." One of the replies. "That's cool I guess." Then he turns back to his friends to finish their conversation, as if I never existed.

"_Hey Adamos, are gods rich?"_ I think.

"**What kind of question is that?"**

"_I get the feeling a stupid one now that I ask it."_ I admit feeling a bit embarrassed.

"**Hey, the only stupid questions are the ones that we already know the answers to. But for your information Percy, yes, the gods are rich. We either invented or help invent many of the innovations that you use today."** He explains.

"_Really? Like what?"_

"**Well Hermes owns FedEx, UPS, and the U.S. postal service, Aphrodite runs eHarmony, and any fashion line. I myself own a bunch of television and movie studios, I even own half of Disney. I'm actually planning on this multi-decade long project of movies that is going to make me billions."**

"_Really? What's it called?"_

"**The Marvel Cinematic Universe."**

"_Is that the one with Batman?"_

"**No, I've already got Batman covered. If the mortals follow the storylines, I've written up I could make bank. But you know outside influences and producers tend to screw them up."**

"_So, the gods have done everything for humans and just passed it of as our own.?"_

"**No, no, we influence civilization from time to time but many of the innovations were made by mortals."** He explains.

"_Well it's good to know that we all aren't sheep." _I think dryly.

"**That's the spirit."**

Finally managing to close my suitcase I head to my bus to go back to Manhattan. I was actually dreading saying goodbye to Grover. Even if our friendship was a bit strained since the museum incident, but as it turns out he actually booked a ticket on the same bus as me. Maybe we can patch things up during the ride.

**Line Break**

During the entire bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. I noticed that he's been acting nervous and fidgety ever since we left Yancy, as if he was expecting something bad to jump out. Before now I always thought it was because he did.t want to be bullied or teased, but there was no one we knew on the bus.

I felt control slip from my body_. __**"Looking for the kindly ones G-Man?"**_ Adamos asks. Over the last few weeks Adamos has been tormenting Grover by causing accidents to happen around him to make him jump. For some reason he likes tormenting him but will never tell me why.

Grover nearly fell out of his seat "Wha—What are you talking about?"

"_**You know what I mean Grover, I mean what else could you and Mr. Brunner talking about late at night?"**_ Adamos drawls in a knowing tone.

Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"

I was trying to wrestle back control from Adamos, but it was only halfhearted as I wanted Grover to come out and admit he had been lying to me.

"_**So, tell me Grover, what does the solstice deadline have to do with anything."**_

Grover winced. "Look Perce… I was just worried for you, you see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teacher… And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressing or something, because there was no Mrs. Dodds, and…" he starts rambling.

I barely realized that Adamos handed back control to me until I felt my brow going up, not buying into Grover's talk.

"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." I said ignoring Adamos's laughing in my head.

His ears turn pink.

He begins to fish around the pocket on his shirt, bringing out a wrinkled business card. "Just take his ok? In case you need me."

On the card was fancy script that was messing with my dyslexia. Adamos decided to read it to me to save time. It was a place in Long Island with a phone number at the bottom.

"What's Half—"

"Don't say it out loud!" he harshly whispers while clamping hi hand over my mouth before removing it. "That's my, um… summer address."

I actually felt a bit betrayed that there was more that he was keeping from me. I never thought that Grover was rich like everyone else.

"Ok," I said glumly, thinking about how much of our friendship was actually real. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."

He nodded. "Or… or if you need me."

"All right." I said turning to look out the window. That didn't seem to calm him down, in fact it just made him fidget more.

"Look Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you." It was at the end of this sentence that Adamos began to break down into hysterical laughter in my head. I ignored the laughing and just stared at Grover.

All year long, I'd gotten into fights, put in detention, and kept bullies away from him, I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up with out me, and he acts like he's been the one who's protecting me.

"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"

There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus began to smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and pulled the bus to the side of the empty highway.

After looking around the engine compartment for a few minutes the driver told us to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everyone else. We were on an empty stretch of country road, out in the middle of nowhere. On our side of the road were just trees and litter. On the other side, across the four-lane highway was an old-fashioned fruit stand.

The stuff on sale looked really good: large boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts, apricots, and jugs of cider in a tub of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.

These socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them, the lady on the left knitted the other, and the lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric blue yarn. All three of the women looked ancient, with pale, wrinkled faces, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses. The weirdest thing was they' were looking right at me.

I looked back to Grover to say something about this until I felt control over my body taken from me for the second time today. Adamos starts walking across the highway.

"Percy wait!" Grover yells, grabbing my—Adamos's? – shoulder only to be shrugged off without a word.

"_Hey, you think those socks are for sasquatch or the hulk?"_ I ask.

Adamos stays silent.

Stopping in front of the fruit stand eyeing the produce. The woman on the left speaks up. "I see that your eying the cherries. But be careful, some of the last batch has come out with '_two seeds_."

"_**Oh really?"**_ Adamos responds, only giving the old woman a brief side glance._** "Have there been any 'problems' with these cherries with 'two seeds'?" **_

The center one speaks. "No, no problems have come as of this time. But it has a way of sneaking up on the buyer when it hides in with the other cherries."

"_**Well then, it seems that when it's found out it will surprise so many people. I can't wait to see the looks on peoples faces when they see this cherry."**_ Adamos says with a smirk.

Then the right one speaks up. "Hm, yes. But this cherry has a hard road a head of it as the harvester will be looking to dispose of it if found out."

"_**That sounds about right. Say are there any 'specials' for the cherries?"**_ Adamos asks finally turning to the old ladies.

"_Adamos how are you going to buy those we don't have any money?"_ I ask only to be ignored again.

The center old lady speaks. "Yes, buy half a pound and you'll get something extra."

Adamos nods, placing his palm on the stand. His hand begins to glow and then the glow fades. When he lifts his hand and where it was are a pair of golden coins. Without another word he grabs a bag of cherries and walks away popping one into his mouth. As Adamos makes his way next to Grover, he turns his head to the three old ladies. The middle old lady took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath from the side.

"Percy get on the bus." He whispered harshly. "Come on!" he hurries prying open the bus doors before going in. I could still see through my eyes, but I felt Adamos wear an emotionless expression. I watch as the old woman with the shears looks directly at me and cuts the yarn. A shiver goes up my figurative spine since Adamos is still in control, not moving or expressing himself in any way. I swear I could hear the snip across the four lanes of traffic. As I feel control slowly going back to me, but I couldn't look away as her friends balled up the electric blue socks. Only to snap out of it when I hear cheering behind me. Turning around I see people getting back onto the bus. Looking to the fruit stand once again only to notice that it was gone.

"Everybody back onboard." The driver yells. I slowly walk back to the bus.

"**Percy look in the bag."** Adamos says.

"What?" I say aloud.

"**The bag Percy, look inside."** I look in the bag expecting that he just wanted to eat more cherries. Inside is thin bracelet. It was a simple metal band, black in color dotted white, and had mixtures of bronze coloring.** "Put it on."**

"_What?"_

"**Put it on Percy. It's important and can save your life."** He explains vaguely.

"_What could a bracelet do?"_

"**Just put it on. It belongs to me and since I'm apart of you, you can use it."**

"_What is it?"_ I ask walking onto the bus.

"**A weapon," **he says. **"MY weapon to be exact. A godly weapon." **He finishes as I put the band on my wrist.

"_WAIT YOUR TELLING ME THIS NOW?"_ I internally scream, but my face is straining to hold the stoic mask as I sit next to a pale Grover.

"**Ok, first, volume. Jeez,"**

"_Sorry."_ I think sheepishly.

"**Second, I put some seals on the weapon so that you don't accidentally wipe New Jersey off the map. Third, the weapon will come back to you if you lose it, or until I take it back. And, finally the weapon is my spear, it still holds a lot of power so try not to accidentally obliterate someone, ok?"**

I visibly frown. _"Nothing that you said is reassuring at all."_

"**Just—just use it for emergencies or when I say so got it?"**

"_Fine."_

"What did you see back at the fruit stand?" Grover says making me jump, reminding me he exists.

"The old ladies? What about them? Are they like… Mrs. Dodds?" His expression becomes hard to read, but I had the feeling that the old ladies were some thing much worse than Mrs. Dodds.

"**Depends on your definition of worse."** Adamos interjects.

"_What do you mean_?"

"**Nothing, just talking circumstances, don't worry about it."**

"Just tell me what you saw Percy." Grover speaks again.

Turning back to him. "The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."

Grover closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something much, much older.

"**An old nature charm."** Adamos says.

"_A wha—"_I begin to think.

"You saw her snip the cord." Grover says cutting of my thoughts.

"Yeah. So?" I said, but I remembered the sound and it sent another shiver down my spine. Yeah, it's definitely a big deal.

"He talked to them. This is not happening." Grover mumbled. He started nervously chewing his thumb. "I don't want this to be like last time."

"Last time?" I ask but he doesn't seem to hear me.

"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."

"Grover," I ask because he was starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me walk you home from the bus station." He says. "Promise me."

"**Now all that's missing is the promise of candy on arrival and you've got a grade A creep."** Adamos jokes.

"_Dude shut up. That's not funny."_ I scold him while also promising Grover he could walk me home, if for nothing else than to get him to relax more because he was beginning to make me nervous.

"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean that someone is going to die?" I ask, only to be replied with no answer. Only a mournful look, like he was already picking out the flowers for my funeral

"_Adamos?"_

"**Yeah Perce, that thread being cut means death. But don't worry that wasn't meant for you."** He says trying to reassure me.

"_So, who were they?"_ I ask still a bit nervous. I mean they made Grover this scared and I'm still nervous thinking about them, and Adamos just walked up to them and had a regular conversation like he shops their often.

"**The Fates Percy, the weavers of life and death. They don't often show themselves unless it's important. If we see them again let me deal with them unless they ask specifically for you."** He says in a serious voice that I take to heart.

"_But if their so important and dangerous why were you talking to them?"_

"**The domains of life and miracles that I have give me so pull with the fates. I can defy the fates a little bit but if they truly want something to happen there's little I can do. In the recent millennium I've been gathering favors from them by nudging civilization in certain directions by influencing key historical events. These favors are what lets me help you. You were originally supposed to do go into the mythological world and do things by yourself, but I pulled some strings—no pun intended—with the fates to let me help you."**

"_Your doing all this to help me?"_

"**Well I according to the Fates you're a key figure in a big prophecy that's happening so I'm helping you out."**

"_Wow—uh thanks man, that means a lot actually."_ I think, feeling stunned.

"**Don't mention it Perce."**

The rest of the bus ride was uneventful and quiet.

**A/N: Sup what few readers that I got. Thanks for taking the time to read what slightly interesting garbage I type out. Now don't expect this level of frequencies with the chapters being written. I'm sort of feeling a writer's high. It's like a writer's block, only you know. Not. Any feedback would be great. Now this chapter I'm mostly just using as a way to explain more about Adamos and have some of my own thoughts on gods. I took his name from the ancient greek word adamas, meaning uncoquerable. I know if his large number of domains make him seem op, and I agree. Which is why while in Percy's body the level of power he can use the abilities is nerfed otherwise like i said earlier in the story Percy's body will burn away, and some of the domains don't really offer anything like entertainment and literature won't really affect him. As for Adamos's spear that's also being nerfed to a powerful magic weapon while in Percy's hands, but will have a few abilities of it's own.  
**

**See you next time on Percy Ball Z**


	4. Chapter 3:I Learn so Much

People or Percy speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

**Adamos in Percy's mind**

_**Adamos speaking though Percy**_

**All characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos. He's mine)**

**Chapter 3**

I Learn So Much Today

**(Percy's P.O.V.) (I think 85% of this story will be in his view)**

"**Finally. It's good to get away from him."** Adamos says in relief.

"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First." I tell the driver of the taxi I just got into. _"Seriously what is with you? Like why are you always hating on Grover?"_

"**No reason, they're all cowardly and so easy to mess with. Plus, they got it coming."** Adamos says with the yet again vague and mysterious explanation.

"_They?"_

"**Don't worry. They're not important at all."**

"_Rigghhtt."_ I let the word sound out longer in my head. Adamos claims they're not important but he seems to take any opportunity to torment Grover because he's 'one of them'. Either way I still ditched Grover at the bus terminal. I know it was rude after I promised him he could escort me home but honestly he was freaking me more out when we got off the bus. He kept glancing at me and was muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why is it always the sixth grade?" The fates must have really scared the crap out of him. You see when ever Grover is overly nervous, he has to use the bathroom, so I wasn't surprised when he told me to wait while he rushed off to the nearest bathroom. Then with a little convincing from Adamos and I was leaving in a taxi.

"**So Perce, are you ready to see your mom again?"** Adamos asks, if nothing else to start a conversation.

"_Oh yeah you're going to love her, she's the best person ever. She makes the best cookies, and she always tries hard for me and believes in me, and she's always supportive whenever I get kicked out of a school."_

"**Oh? Tell me more about her."**

"_I don't know how but she became the nicest and best woman even though she's had a bad life. When she was five her parents died in a plane crash after lightning struck it," _At the mention of this I began to feel anger slowly rising in me that wasn't my own, but I ignore it and keep on talking. _"Her uncle didn't really care enough to raise her. She always wanted to be a novelist, so she was saving for college throughout high school. Then her uncle got cancer and she had to quit high school to take care of him until he died."_ I finished telling him. I don't know why I had told him what I did. Maybe I was hoping that as a god he could help my mom get out of her crap life. And my hopes were right.

"**THE SHIT!" **Adamos suddenly shouts letting all the gathered anger I was feeling out in my head, making me wince at the volume.** "She sounds like an amazing person, why does she have to go through all that crap!?"**

"_Why are you getting so mad?"_ I ask feeling a little timid at the sudden outburst in my head._ "You don't even know her."_

"**Percy, the skies are Zeus's domain, there's a chance he might have struck the plane down."** Adamos explains and I begin to feel irritation at the sky god.** "Also, I know what it's like to have an uncle that doesn't care for you at all so I can relate, and lastly she never got to be a novelist like she wanted. Writing books of any kind falls under my jurisdiction so the fact that she never got to pisses me off."**

Everything that he says hits me like a ton of bricks. How could life be so unfair? But then I remember her saying that one of the best things to ever to happen to her was meeting my dad. I don't really have any memories of him, just an embrace and maybe a warm smile. My mom never talks about him because she gets sad whenever he comes up. I've asked about him before, but she says that he was lost at sea when I was a baby. But now knowing that he is a god I feel resentment towards him for leaving my mom with me and this crappy life we live. She deserves better. _"So what, it's not like theirs anything we can do about."_ I think, letting my irritation come out in my thoughts a little.

"**Maybe not you because you're just a mortal, but I'm a god so I can help in ways that you never could."**

"_Like what?"_ I ask, ignoring the slight jab at mortals from the god in my head.

"**I am going to bless the crap out of her life."**

"_Uh… explanation please?"_

"**I'm going to bless her with some of my godly power to make her life better. Bless her with everything she'll need to write her novel and throw a few miracles her way and all that."**

"_You'd do that for her?"_

"**Damn straight kiddo. You know I actually didn't know my mom for that long."**

"_Really? What happened to her?"_ I asked not really expecting him to open up more.

"**I only knew her for around fourteen years. She was always kind and supportive to me and my sister if not a bit dark and mysterious at times, but I couldn't see her as much as I wanted, and I can't see her anymore."**

"_Wow that sucks man."_

After a moment of silence Adamos speaks again.** "Yeah, but my dad is a great man who loved me enough."**

Now I was feeling jealous. He had a father that loved and cared for him. Me, I had Gabe Ugliano. I don't know why my mom married him. He was nice the first thirty seconds but turned out to be a complete jackass. I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe when I was younger because he smelled of moldy garlic stuffed into sweaty gym socks. I know the name was childish, but I was six at the time. If my dad was like Adamos's dad, I know it would be easier for my mom. Between me and Gabe I know that we made my mom's life harder than it needed to be. Me being a problem child that could never stay at the same school, and Gabe was an alcoholic slob. Not to mention the 'bonding' sessions that he used to have with me when I was little. They happen less frequently now but I still find I have to hide them from my mom, so she doesn't worry. Sometimes I see her constantly pulling her sleeves like she's trying to hide something, and it just makes me hate my life more.

"_Well lucky you that your dad cares!"_ I internally snarl at Adamos.

"**Watch your tone Percy." **He replies in a calm yet icy voice.** "I like you, but not enough to let remark like that slide. I won't kill you but there are always alternative measures."**

I flinch _"Sorry, it just—your dad sounds amazing and I just have a horrible step father named Gabe."_

"**I know Percy. I've looked at your memories of the last few years. I know what kind of thing Gabe Ugliano is."** His voice still cold but for an entirely different reason.

"_Wait you looked through my memories!?"_

"**Of course, that's what I just said." **He says as if it compared to going to the grocery store.

"_No, I mean how!?"_

"**Percy. Where am I?"**

"_In my … oh."_

"**Right. But even if I wasn't in your head us gods can easily read a mortal's thoughts. We can even other god's minds if they're not careful."**

"_So what's to stop them from reading my thoughts and finding out about us?"_ I was starting to feel worried with this new information. I mean the gods could easily dig out my private thoughts and darkest secrets. I didn't want others to pity me for having to live with Gabe.

"**Currently I'm protecting your mind. I can't fully protect it because then they would find out. But don't worry I'll guard your darkest secrets for you."**

"_Thanks."_ I think and let out a sigh of relief.

"**And I plan on having some fun with this Gabe when we see him."**

"_What are you going to do?"_ I feel a smile spread across my face. I've learned from watching him torment Grover that the god was a ruthless and creative prankster when he wanted to be.

"**Ohh nothing to complex… yet."** I could feel the mischievous smirk in my mind.

I change the subject, not wanting to think of Gabe anymore and finally decide to bring up the question that was killing me inside. _"Adamos, why do you think my dad left? Did he not care for me or my mom?"_

"**Percy… you have to understand that the gods do love their children very much and in their own ways."** His voice becoming caring, like a parent explaining to a child.

"_But why did he leave!?"_

"**There are… ancient laws that forbade gods from interacting to much with their demi god children, as well as other reasons.**

"_The god's have laws?"_ I ask in disbelief.

"**Yes Percy. Even us gods have rules we must follow**." I could feel him roll his eyes in my head. **"Oh hey look we're stopping." **He says drawing my attention away from the conversation.

Turning to look out the window of the cab I see that we just stopped in front of my apartment building. _"I guess we are." _I think. Paying the driver, I exit the cab both dreading what came next and feeling a little excited at seeing my mom.

**Line Break**

I walk into my apartment hoping that my mom was back from work. Instead, Gabe was in the living room playing poker with his buddies. Behind them the T.V. was blaring ESPN loudly. Chips, empty bags, and beer cans were all over the floor.

Barely looking up from his game and with his cigar still in his mouth. "So, your back."

"Where's my mom?" I ask.

"Working." He said in his fat voice. "You got any cash?"

"**You're here for five seconds and that's what he says? What was 'How was your school year' to long of a sentence for him."** Adamos says, finally meeting the gross creature that is Gabe Ugliano for the first time. Since the last time I had seen him it seemed that Gabe had put on even more weight. He looked like a tusk less walrus that wore clothes that I wouldn't have put it past him to have stolen from a homeless guy. He had only three hairs combed over his bald head, as if that made him handsome somehow. He managed an Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens but stayed home most of the time. I honestly don't know how he hasn't been fired yet, but the checks keep on coming in anyways and he spends them on cigars and beer. Lots of beer.

"_Yep, Adamos meet Gabe Ugliano."_ I think dryly.

"**Oh my me, I can smell him from here."** Adamos begins gagging in my head. I had lived with Gabe for years so I could bear it much better than others.

"I don't have any cash." I say back. In the recent years whenever I came home, he expected me to pay for his gambling with all my cash. I used to have a jar full of cash that I was saving to surprise my mom with something nice when I was nine only to find it completely empty. When I confronted Gabe about it he apparently lost most of it gambling and spent the rest on cheap cigars. He then threatened me with more of our 'bonding' sessions if my mom found out.

He raised one of his greasy brows. Gabe, while immune to his own odor, had the nose of a bloodhound when it came to money. "You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, maybe seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right Eddie?"

"**His own… the hell! Your twelve and he expects you to…! Just give me the word Perce and I'll make his life hell."** Adamos growls.

Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on Gabe. The kid just got back."

"**Well at least he's somewhat decent."**

"_Yeah Eddie's a nice guy a lot of the time, he just—doesn't do well with confrontation."_ I defend the super.

"Am I _right_" Gabe repeated.

Eddie scowled in to his bowl of pretzels. The two other guys passed gas in harmony.

"**Targets acquired then."**

"_What are you doing?"_ I wonder what he was up to.

"**Nothing. Just act natural."**

Taking his word, I fish money out of my pocket and threw the money at him. "Fine I hope you lose." I walk towards my room.

"Your report card came brain boy!" he shouts after me leaning back in his chair. "I wouldn't be acting so snooty!"

"**Now turn back and glare at him."** Listening to him I do just that. Only to witness one of the best things in my life occur.

As Gabe was leaning back in his chair, one of the back legs collapses causing him to fall back to the floor hard. He lands with a heavy thud that shakes the room, his belly jiggling greatly. The room was silent as he used his fat elbows to prop himself up only to hear a creak. Looking up I see the ceiling fan just above the poker table come loose from Gabe's fatness shaking the room, and landing on one end of the poker table before landing heavily on his leg. This causes a chain reaction with all the food, beers, dips, and cards as they are all launched from the broken table like a catapult and landing directly on Gabe. I quickly turn to avoid laughing at the food and drink covered Gabe hopping around on one leg screaming curses, cradling the leg the fan landed on.

This however doesn't stop Adamos from going into a fit of hysteria at what we just witnessed. I immediately go into my room, slamming the door behind me before breaking down into laughter.

"_Oh—oh my—god."_ I think, not being able to stop the laughter.

"**Oh yeah, just you wait Percy. There's so much more instore for the fat man. Just you wait."** He says still chuckling.

After the laughter finally dies down, I look around my 'room', which is barely what it can be considered. When I am away at school Gabe uses the room as his personal 'study'. The only thing he really studied were outdated car magazines and explicit magazines that he thinks he's clever at hiding. He always shoved my stuff into a small corner of the closet, left his muddy boots on m window sill and spread his disgusting smell all over the room.

I dropped my suitcase on the bed and then opened the window to let out the Gabe smell.

"_Home sweet home."_ I think sarcastically.

"**Aw come on Percy it's not that bad. It's got… character? Nope, never mind. I can't even make this place sound good."**

"_You know, the smell is just as bad as Mrs. Dodds."_

"**Yeah. I can't deny that."**

Thinking about Mrs. Dodds sends a nervous shiver up my spine. I remember the panicked look Grover had and him making me promise to escort me home. I began having the strangest feeling someone—something—was looking for me. It was getting closer, like it was going up the stairs right now.

Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"

She opened the door to my room, and I began to immediately feel better. She always makes me feel better when she arrives.

Adamos whistles**. "Damn Percy. Your mom looks good for her age."**

I beat down a blush at the compliment toward my mom, but I can't deny it. My mom was a truly beautiful woman. Her eyes sparkled and changed color in the light to different shades of blue. Her smile was as warm as quilt and shined like the sun. Even though she had a few grey streaks in her long brown hair her face looked ages younger than it should have. She was always kind and understanding, she never raised her voice at anyone. She was one of a kind.

"Oh Percy." She hugged me tightly. "I can't believe how much you've grown since Christmas, and it looks like you've been eating more is see." She notices the weight and bit of muscle I put on thanks to Adamos.

Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate and candy. She brought out a bag of 'free samples' that she always had for me when I came home.

"**Aw Percy your mom's so cool."** He says as I put a piece of candy in my mouth. As I ate the candy, she ran her hand through my hair and asked about everything that happened at school. She didn't talk about my expulsion. She just wanted to know how I was. I felt guilty keeping secrets from her.

"_Hey Adamos?"_

"**What's your question this time Perce."**

"_How do you know I'm going to ask you a question?"_

"**Are you?"**

"_Hugh—fine. Can I – tell my mom about you?"_

"**I don't think that's a good idea. People don't tend to react well with possessions."**

"_Oh…ok."_

"**If it makes you feel better she probably knows about the gods and all that already so you can talk about that."**

"_NO…she already has enough to deal with. I don't want to burden her more."_

"**Alright Perce. It's your choice."** He says in a tone that he didn't like it but accepted my decision.

From the other room Gabe yelled, "Hey Sally—How about some bean dip huh?"

I grit my teeth at how he just ruined the moment. My mom was one of the best people in the world. She deserved a god to look after her. Not some worthless shit sack that spends all his money on cheap booze and cigars. I went back to talking to her, telling her about how much better I was doing towards the end of the year, Mr. Brunner, and I even made Nancy Bobofit sound not completely horrible. That is until I got to the part about the museum.

"What?" my mom looked at me with a critical eye, trying to pull my secrets out. "Did something happen?"

"No, Mom." I still felt bad for lying but I already told Adamos that I didn't want to worry her, and since I had him here, I wasn't as worried as I would be.

She looked at me with pursed lips but didn't push the subject.

"I have a surprise for you." She said. "We're going to the beach."

I felt excitement bubble up. "Montauk?"

"Three nights—same cabin."

"When?"

She smiled at me. "As soon as I get changed."

I was so excited; my mom and I hadn't been able to go to Montauk in the last two summers because according to Gabe we didn't have enough money.

Then Gabe appeared in the door way mostly clean but still with some food clinging to him. "Bean dip Sally? Didn't you hear me?" he growled.

"**And once again he ruins the moment. Just give the word Percy and I could make him fall through the floor."** Adamos makes a tempting offer.

I look at my mom's eyes and see the deal she is silently making with me: Be nice to Gabe and we'll leave for Montauk earlier.

"_Not yet. But stay on standby just in case."_

"**Fine."** Adamos concedes begrudgingly.

"I was on my way honey." She says to Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."

Gabe's eyes narrow. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"

"I knew it." I said. "He won't let us go." Mentally I was preparing to give Adamos the signal if he refused.

"Of course he will," my mom says. "Your step father is just worried about money is all. Besides," She adds. "Gabe won't have to settle for just bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip to last the weekend. The works."

"**Bribery. She's good."**

Gabe's face softens a bit. "So this money for your trip… it comes out of your clothes budget right?"

"Yes, honey." She said.

"**I have never wanted to stab someone more in the last century than I do right now."** Adamos says in a way that I don't doubt the statement. Honestly, I would have let him if he took over, so long as he got rid of the body afterwards.

"And you won't take my car anywhere other than there and back?" he questions.

"We'll be very careful."

Gabe begins to scratch his double chin like he's contemplating something or digging for a missing Cheeto. "Maybe if you hurry with the seven-layer dip… And if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."

"**Oh ho ho, he just doesn't know when to quit."**

"_No, he doesn't. Maybe if I kick him in the nuts and make him sing soprano he'll learn." _I think to Adamos, but one look at my mom's eyes was enough to keep me from talking.

"I'm sorry." I mutter. "I'm sorry that I interrupted your important poker game. Please go back to it."

Gabe's eyes narrow at me, as if he was trying to find the obvious sarcasm in my voice.

"Yeah, whatever." He decided then left.

"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about… whatever you want to talk about. Okay?" For a second, I thought I saw worry in her eyes. The same kind I had seen in Grover. But then her smile returned, and I pushed the thought to the side. She brushed her hand through my hair before leaving to make Gabe his dip.

"**Your mom is such a nice lady."**

"_Yeah she's the best. It just doesn't make sense that she's married to—to him!"_

"**I wouldn't worry about it."**

"_Why not?"_

"**Because I blessed her."**

"_When?!"_

"**When you hugged her. She'll be able to write that novel she wants and get it published, and if things go right, she'll meet a man that truly cares about her."**

"_It'll work right?"_

"**Yeah, but these things don't happen overnight, so it'll take some time.**

"_Alright that's good. I guess I'll get ready then."_ I say filling my bag with new clothes.

**Line Break**

It had been an hour since the conversation and Adamos was enjoying himself as he tormented Gabe. From making his pants split, to making him hit his head on cabinet doors in the kitchen, to when his beer exploded in his face when he opened it. It was awesome because Gabe could never pin the stuff on me since I was in my room for most of the hour. I think that after looking into my memories had already left an impression of how great my mom is on him before he even met her in person. That's probably why he's doing so much for her and tormenting Gabe so much.

We were finally ready to leave. Gabe took a break from his 'important' poker game long enough to watch as we lugged our bags to the car. Without helping I might add. The only thing that he was doing was gripping his head and mumbling about 'stupid kitchens' and losing my mom's cooking—but more importantly his 78' Camaro—for the whole weekend.

"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," He warned me as I was loading the last of our bags. "Not one little scratch. Got it."

"**Does he seriously think that you're going to drive this thing?"**

"_Honestly I just think he's looking for a way to blame me for something."_

I watched him limp back to the apartment. His leg obviously still injured from the ceiling fan falling on it. I felt like spiting him and did something. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gestures I'd seen Grover make on the bus. Adamos said it was a magic charm or something so I though that maybe it would do something to Gabe. I made a warding off evil sort of gesture, then a claw over my heart, and finally a shoving motion towards Gabe. The screen door slammed shut on him so hard it caused him to stumble face first into the stairs.

I stood their silent, not really expecting anything to happen.

"**Well that answers that question."**

"_What question?"_ I ask still trying to figure out what happened.

"**You Percy, have just used magic."**

"_Wait really!?"_ I asked._ "That was magic? I though that you said it was a charm?"_

"**It is a charm. One that humans or even most demigods for that matter shouldn't be able to cast. It was basically a charm to reject and stall evil entities around you."**

"_So how am I able to use it? And what about Grover? He's the one I learned it from."_

"**Grover isn't exactly human. He's not going to hurt you either if that's what you're thinking."**

I was thinking that a bit but I didn't bring it up.

"**As for how you can use it my guess is that my minor domain of sorcery has allowed you to use magic. Don't worry, I know many spells, wards, and glyphs so I can teach you magic."**

I step into the car not looking back at Gabe and my mom takes that as a sign to leave. During the drive Adamos was telling me of the different kinds of magic he could teach me. From glyphs that I could use to store a spell in an object to wards to set up to achieve different effects. I was honestly excited to learn about magic, but Adamos says that magic is pretty difficult to learn and could take years to learn it and even then, I might only be able to specialize in certain areas.

But still MAGIC!

**Line Break**

We had arrived in long island. We were on the southern tip of the island, along an empty stretch of beach. The cabin was this medium sized single room box with a bathroom, half sunken into the sand. The inside was plagued with loose sand and spiders in the cabinets and most of the time the ocean was too cold to swim.

"**Well it's… quaint at least."** Adamos says as we walk up to the cabin.

"_Yeah it's great right."_ I think back eagerly.

"**Yeah. Sure."** He drawls out.

"_Ok I know it's not much, but my mom and I have been coming here for years. My mom even longer. I know this beach is special to her."_

"**Why's that?"** He asks now curious.

"_I think it's because it's the place she met my dad."_

"**I see."** Adamos says before staying silent, like he was thinking about something.

Leaving him to his thoughts I turn back to my mom. Since we got here, she seemed to grow younger. Like just being here took away all the stress that she's had over the past year. I would have thought it was Adamos's blessing if I hadn't seen it happen whenever we came here.

We opened up the cabin and began cleaning up. Opening the curtains, dusting the beds, and cleaning the bathroom. Afterwards we walked the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls and ate a bunch of different kinds of blue candy.

"**Question. What's with the blue food?"**

"_Oh right, uh, once Gabe told my mom that there was no such thing as blue food. Just to prove him wrong she made a bunch of blue foods for a while. Cakes, cookies, smoothies, you name it she blued it. That and the fact that she never took Gabe's last name makes me think that she's not totally with Gabe"_

"**Well I don't know why anyone would want to be named Ugliano. But I'll say it again. Your mom's pretty cool Perce."**

"_Yeah."_ I think wistfully.

I was silent for a while before deciding to ask my mom about my dad. _"Maybe she knows who he is."_

"Hey mom." She looks at me. "What was my dad like."

Her eyes become misty with emotion. "He was kind, Percy. Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle too." She has a far away look now. "You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes." She began to fish around her bag of candy. "I wish he could see you, he would be so proud."

Not taking my eyes off the fire. "I think I understand why he's been away, if only a little bit." I said, but I still wonder what would he be proud of me for. I was a D+ student, a trouble maker, and have been kicked out of six schools. Not exactly the most outstanding child of the year.

My mom looks at me with a bit of surprise in her eyes. Every other time I ask I always try to pry for more information. The fact that I said I understand a bit clearly caught her off guard. Deciding to move the conversation along. "How old was I when he left?"

She turns back to the flames, choosing not to comment on my change in opinion. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. In this very cabin."

I stayed silent, reflecting on what she told me.

"_Hey Adamos, do those descriptions remind you of any gods?"_ I ask.

"**Yeah I think I know who your dad is. Those features and description narrow it down to one god, little brother."** He says and I feel a smile spread across his face in my mind.

"_You mean?"_ I ask trying to steel my face, so my mom doesn't catch on.

"**Yep. You are Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."**

I let a small smile grace my face. I let the memories fill in in my mind. I remember from the dream of Adamos with his—our—dad and put a face to the missing pieces of the memories. I remember my father holding me as a baby. His smile made me feel warm.

More memories begin to come forward. I remember a large man in a black trench coat and one eye following me around in the third grade. And an even earlier memory was in preschool when I strangled a snake to death. I began to realize that all these myths were around me my entire life.

"_Adamos how often are monsters around me?" _I think feeling a bit nervous as I remember all the strange things I've seen in my childhood.

"**What do you mean?"**

"_I mean I keep remembering all these strange things that happened when I was a kid. Like men with one eye, bird women, snakes. Stuff like that."_

"**Monsters have always been around you Percy you've just never noticed them, or they've never noticed you. Maybe a few notice on occasion but don't do anything."**

"_But how come no one else see's them?"_

"**That would be the Mist at work, and since I know your going to ask the Mist is a mystical veil that clouds mortals from seeing monsters and wipes them from people's memories if they do meet. You remember how no one remember Dodds?"**

"_That was the Mist? But what about the monsters eating humans?"_

"**Monster rarely attack let alone eat humans. They prefer to go after Demigods."**

My blood goes cold._ "What did you just say."_

"**Monsters are still around as well Perce. They hide like the gods and are immortal like the gods."**

"_How is that fair." _I internally whine._ "How am I supposed to get away from something that's immortal.!?"_

"**Percy they can still be killed."**

"_But you just sai—"_

"**I know what I said, it's that you can stab them and blow them up and they turn to dust. They're immortal because they can reform over and over again. Sometimes it can take them years to reform. So the chances of meeting the same monster is highly unlikely."**

"_Well that makes me feel a bit better, I guess."_

At that moment my mom talks, braking me out of the internal conversation.

"Percy are you ok?" She asks worriedly.

"What? Oh, I'm fine. Just zoned out for a bit." I tell her but she just nods her head after a moment accepting the answer.

"I was saying that there was a place that your father always wanted me to send you. But I kept putting it off because I anted you with me longer."

"Wait we've never met but he already has a summer camp picked out for me?"

"**Its actually the same place that was listed on Grover's card."**

"_Really?"_ I ask only to receive a simultaneous yes from my mom and Adamos. Weird.

My mom was the one to continue. "Wanted to keep you with me for longer but I was afraid that if I sent you, I'd never see you again."

"Why it's only a summer camp?" I ask trying to reassure her.

"**That camp is a safe haven for demigods, so she probably thinks you'll stay there for the rest of your life and never see you again."**

"_Why? she can visit right."_ I ask not really understanding what was so bad about it. If it was a camp for demigods, it couldn't be bad.

"**The camp has rules and boundaries that keep mortals out of the camp of hiding it from those that would look for it. Only those allowed can enter and I don't think mortals are allowed for their own safety."**

"_Oh."_ I finally understand why my mom was so sad.

The rest of the night was quiet until I went to bed, only to have a vivid dream.

**Line Break**

There was a storm raging along a beach. Two animals were fighting in the distance, a White stallion and a golden eagle, going at each other like it was a death match. The eagle swoops down and claws the horses muzzle with its talons. The horse counters by kicking the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, a monstrous voice chuckles somewhere beneath the earth taunting the animals to fight.

I hear a voice behind me, but I pay it no mind. I try running to them. Trying to stop the fighting but my feet aren't making any traction. Again, the voice screams something at me but I can't hear it over the wind. I watch as the eagle then swoops down towards the horse, it's talons extended about to claw the horse's eyes. I scream 'NO!' at the scene before some one grabs my shoulder turning me around.

It was Adamos, except his body was older than it was when I saw him in the last dream he looked to be in his mid-twenties. His island eyes look onto mine then he screams at me. "WAKE UP!"

I wake up with a start. Outside a hurricane was going off and I could hear the winds hit the cabin. Lightning flashed making it seem as if for a brief moment it's daylight outside and massive waves hit the coast.  
The sound of thunder rolled over us and woke my mom up. "Hurricane" was all she said and with wide eyes.

"**Glad you could wake up sleeping beauty. Now get up a monsters coming."**

"A what." I say out loud. Next thing I know an angry below is heard over the howling winds. That makes my hairs on my neck stand up and I immediately start getting dressed for what ever it is. My mom does the same preparing to leave until we both freeze as we hear a pounding on the door.

My mom, still dressed in her night gown and now some shorts, went over to the door and threw it open. Grover stood at the door out of breath, but he was different than how I remember him.

"Searching all night." He gasps out. "What were you thinking."

My mom looked at me with fear in her eyes—as if she knew Grover's arrival meant some thing bad. "Percy," She shouted over the storm. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"

I felt guilty for keeping things from my mom, but it was overpowered by my anger at the moment. Looking back with a hard and furious expression.

"What? That I killed a monster weeks ago and then had to deal with my so-called friend and Mr. Brunner lying to me for weeks about what happened and making me feel like I was losing my mind cause no one else could remember it!? Because that's what happened. Then I have to deal with him staring at me like I'm a dead man and muttering about how I'm going to die after three old ladies snip a thread." I yell at them. My mom's face pales at what I say, and Grover flinches away with a guilty look, not meeting either of our eyes.

I fell my control slip as Adamos takes over.

"_**We can play who screwed up later. Right now we need to leave. Grab what you need and get your asses to the car. Grover you start the car."**_ Adamos says in a commanding and authoritative tone that I wasn't used to hearing from him. Neither were my mom or Grover expected such a tone to come from me either and stand there open mouth.

"_**Are you gonna sit there gaping like fish or are we gonna move! It's gonna be here soon."**_ Adamos shouts, snapping them out of their trance.

Grabbing my bag of the bed and putting on my coat Adamos runs after Grover who went to start the car. I took the time to see what was different about Grover and my mind went blank when I saw that instead of regular feet he had… hooves.

"**He's a **_**satyr.**_**" **He thinks to me and saying the last word with distaste.

"_A what?"_ I whisper still looking at Grover's legs through my—Adamos's—eyes.

"**Half human, half goat, all pathetic."**

"_That seems harsh to say about him." _I think to him as he slides into one of the seats in the car.

"**It's nothing with him personally. I just think that all satyrs are worthless."**

"_How is that any better!?" _I ask, finally getting the answer to why he dislikes Grover so much yet raising even more questions in the process.

"**Not the time Percy!"** He thinks to me as my control over my body is reestablished and my mom punches down the gas and goes speeding down the road. Behind me I hear the angry roar. Only this time it was much closer.

**A/N: Ok sheeples I'm glad that there have been a couple reviews. I love and need the feedback. Your comments and suggestions feed screaming portal in the back of my closet, preventing it from swallowing my apartment. Honesty time though. Since this is my first ever fanfic (that's not locked up in my journal) published, the story will follow the regular books, but events will be changed or added with the existence of Adamos being added. History isn't what it seems, and many myths will be redone because he was wiped from existence. As for pairings well I'm leaning towards the Percabeth because it's canon but I'm also leaning to Peralia. As for Adamos I've limited his pairing to two of the Olympian goddesses and can't decide which he should be with. Either are good choices and if you've seen his domains you know which two, I'm thinking of. I don't go for the whole polygamy thing as I think that's a bit too much of a stretch from their actual characters of the love interests. Now I'm rambling. So long story short send feedback because it could help me decide. Write a review guessing which goddesses and if your right I'll reveal the choices. Because I suck like that. As for the whole magic thing Percy will be learning magic but magic is complex and tough to learn and Adamos is only a minor god in sorcery so his type of magic will be limited as compared to if Percy learnt it from Hecate. Most of what Adamos knows about magic is theoretical anyway but still knows quite a bit about the practical part especially if their close to his domains. Thanks for reading and remember your feed back keeps the unlimited hellscape in my closet at bay.  
**

**To be contundered.**


	5. Chapter 4:How Do Animals wear Pants?

Percy or People speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

**Adamos in Percy's mind**

_**Adamos speaking through Percy**_

**All characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos. He's mine)**

**Chapter 4**

I Answer The Age Old Question. How Do Animals Wear Pants?

We were definitely breaking some sort of speed limit. Ever since Adamos got my mom, Grover and me in the car my mom's been tearing through the dark and empty country roads like a mad woman. I could hear the winds roar through the closed windows, and rain was beating down on the windshield of the Camaro. I doubt my mom could see more than ten feet in front of her, but she never took her foot off the pedal.

Flashes of lightning lit up the sky, providing light for me to get a good look at Grover's legs. My best friend was a walking shag carpet, and the smell only reminded me of one of those kindergarten class trips to the petting zoo.

"So, you and my mom know each other?" I say, trying to break the tense silence.

Grover's eyes were busy scanning out the windows and the rear-view mirror, looking for something. "Not exactly." He said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."

"Like a stalker?

"No! Like a guardian. I was keeping tabs on you, making sure you were ok. But I wasn't faking being your friend. I _am_ your friend." He said earnestly.

"That sounds like something a stalker would say."

"**Ha, Percy's first stalker is a barnyard animal!"**

"_Quiet you."_

"No, I'm a seeker, not a stalker. We satyrs are tasked with finding demigods and protecting them from monsters while taking them to camp." Grover explains.

"So, Mrs. Dodds was a monster!"

"**That's like one of the least important things to discuss right now."**

"_Hey this is a matter of principle."_

"Well of course she was." Grover says drawing me back to our conversation. Having two conversations at the same time was starting to give me a headache.

"And your best plan was to let me think I was going mad with paranoia?" I asked like it was one of the stupidest decisions ever. Because to me it really was.

"No, the less you knew, the fewer monsters you would attract. We put Mist over the human's eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You were beginning to realize who you were."

"So, you wanted to just ignore the fact that I was already attacked by a monster and just hope that I wouldn't attract any more. Because that's a pretty shitty plan."

"Percy, language!" my mom scolded. "And we don't have time to explain everything, we need to get you to safety first."

"Sorry." I mutter. I think I'm picking up a few of Adamos's habits and they're not all good.

Behind us the loud bellowing noise rose up. It was much closer than before.

"Ok what is that, and why is it chasing us?" I half shout.

"**Loud and deep vocals. Not a roar which crosses out half the list. No magical powers detected meaning it's a purely physically type bar some unknown abilities that it could possess." **Adamos begins muttering in my head like he's trying to solve a riddle.

"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, nervously. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood thirstiest minions." That comment didn't reassure me in the slightest.

"Grover!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster please?"

"**Well shit."**

"_What? What's wrong."_

"**I think I know what's chasing us and I gotta say they really pulled all the stops to get you."**

"_What is it!?"_

"**Based on what I can sense, I am believe we are being chased by the minotaur."**

"The mino—" My mouth automatically closes before I can whisper out the rest of the word.

"**Ok Percy, I know your still new to all this but please refrain from saying their names out loud, it'll only draw them to you."**

I feel control of my mouth return to me, but I keep it shut because I was a bit afraid of accidentally saying a name and summoning another monster.

Then my mom made a hard left off the road. We swerved onto a narrower road and raced past dark farmhouses, hills, and signs that had FRESH PRODUCE painted on them.

"Ok where is this summer camp exactly?"

"It's close." My mom's voice was tight. She was pushing back her fears so as to not worry me. "You'll be safe there."

"Wait what about y—"

"Percy please," my mom begged. "This is hard enough as it is."

"**Percy this monster is mainly after you so your mother should be fine."**

"_But why me? What did I do?"_

"**That's difficult to explain at the moment and best done at a later time when we aren't being chased by a large bipedal cow." **He says but as I was about to retort my mom turned the wheel hard to the right, avoiding something. I catch a glimpse at the large dark shape now disappearing behind us in the storm.

"Ok, what was that!?" I ask.

"Were almost there," My mom says completely ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."

I couldn't see a few feet outside the windshield, but I found myself leaning forward, as if something was drawing me forward.

"**That feeling means that were close to camp. We're almost there."**

My anticipation only grew when I heard that. We were almost to this 'haven' and we'd be safe. I look outside only to see nothing but darkness and rain. I was about to ask how close we were when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Next thing I know my control was taken by Adamos.

"_**SHIT!"**_ Adamos yells out in my voice. He reaches forward to the steering wheel surprising my mom and quickly jerks it to the side as a blinding flash, and a bone rattling boom go off and the area next to our car explodes. The blast blows out our back tire causing us to swerve more.

The next thing I know I'm feeling weightless, crushed, rolled down a large hill and fried all at the same time.

I peel my forehead off the back of the headrest, seeing I have control again I mutter "Ow."

"_Thanks for saving us back there, but what was that?"_

"**That was lightning. Some one seems to be in a bitchy mood today."** Adamos growls in my mind.

I crawl out of the side door of the car, trying to shake off the daze and pain from what I then see is the car being in a ditch. The right side of the trunk was a charred and shredded mess from where the lightning hit. Otherwise everything else was fine, though I didn't know how we would get the car out of the ditch. I look to see where we were on the road and see a large smoking crater. Now I was extra glad Adamos saved us. The lightning would have torn our car apart.

"Percy!" I hear my mom call out from the driver's seat.

"I'm ok" I call back. I turn back to the backseat of the car and see an unconscious lump on the opposite side of me.

"Grover!" I shout crawling over the seat to get to him. When I get a closer look, he was slumped over with blood trickling out of his mouth. I begin shaking him hoping to get him to wake up.

"**Take one of the larger pieces of glass and hold it up to his mouth or nose." **Adamos instructs and I reach down and pick up a palm sized piece of glass from the floor. I hold it in front of his mouth and see condensation forming on the piece of glass.

"**He's alive."** He says and I feel a wave of relief flow through me. My best friend didn't die.

Then Grover groaned "Food," and I could only chuckle at him.

"**Seriously? Huh, idiot."** Adamos said in an exasperated tone and I feel him shake his head.

I chose to ignore the comment and start to pull Grover out of the car when I hear my mom behind me.

"Percy," my mother said, "we have to…" Her voice falters as she looks down the road.

I look in the same direction. A flash of lightning illuminates a large figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The very sight of it made my skin crawl. The dark silhouette was larger than any lineman you'd see at a football game. His formed kept changing, going from what seemed like a large blanket covering his head to a bull's head.

"Is that—"

"Percy," my mom said in a deadly serious tone. "Get out of the car." I look at her. "Percy—you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"

"The what?" only to get lightning in response as it illuminates a silhouette of a large tree sitting atop the nearest hill.

"That's the property line," My mom said. "Get over the hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run to it and don't look back. Don't stop till you reach the door and call for help."

"Your coming to." I said with determination in my voice. She just gave me a sad look, like the look she has when talking about my dad.

"**Percy she can't she's not—"**

"NO!" I shout cutting him off. "You _are_ coming with me. Help me carry Grover." I say while pulling Grover out of the wrecked car.

Grover just began moaning about food louder now.

The minotaur begins to slowly walk towards us. His form now solidifying as it comes out clearly now. I begin to hear the snorting and grunts that are coming from it now.

"He doesn't want us," my mother told me "He wants_ you. _Besides I can't cross the property line."

"But…"

"We don't have time Percy. Go. Please."

I was now getting madder. Mad at being lied to for so long, and now mad at my mom for wanting me to abandon her. At the same time the minotaur was still lumbering towards where we were.

"**Percy it's best if we just leave them, we can—"**

"_No! I'm not abandoning her. I'm not leaving her with that!"_ I stubbornly argue back to him.

"**Fine! You want to be like that. Go ahead. But when I save your ass, I'm telling you how much you screwed up."**

Finishing that short argument, I look into my mom's eyes. "Mom, I'm not leaving you. Help me with Grover." Not giving her any time to argue back I duck under one of Grover's arms and drag him over to my mom. He was actually lighter than I thought, but still to heavy to carry him to the hill alone. My mom relents, and drapes Grover's other arm over her shoulder and we start walking through the tall grass and to the top of the hill.

Glancing back, I got my first good look at the minotaur. He had to be taller than seven feet, his arms and legs were masses of bulging muscle. Far larger than any body builders. It was as if some one stuffed baseballs into thick veiny sleeves of skin. He was virtually naked except for a pair of underwear he was wearing. They were bright white fruit of the looms—what was keeping me (but not Adamos) from laughing at the sight was his upper bodily appearance. A mass of course brown hair started at the belly button and began to get thicker as it went up to his shoulders. The neck was a mass of pure bulging muscles and fur that lead to his head. The snout was as long as my arm, with a brass ring hanging out of his nose, cruel black eyes and enormous black and white horns that seemed unnaturally sharp.

I just stared at the minotaur. "Pasiphae's son," I hear my mom say. "I wish I'd known how badly they wanted to kill you."

"**Percy, get ready to use my spear."** Adamos instructs in a serious tone. And I feel the band on my wrist pulse as if it knows it's ready to be used.

I look at the pine tree that was still too far away—at least a hundred yards uphill. Then I look back to the minotaur, who was hunched over our wrecked car looking—or at least sniffing and nuzzling—through the windows. I wondered how he didn't notice us when we were only fifty yards away.

"**The minotaur has terrible eyesight. Both from its father the bull and that it lived in the dark labyrinth. It relies on smell to hunt."**

Grover then moaned "Food."

"**Shut him up quickly or he'll spot us."** Adamos hisses in my head. In response I clamp my hand over Grover's mouth.

"We have to go he'll figure out where we are soon enough." My mom said. As if on que the minotaur bellows in rage and picked up the Camaro by the roof, the chassis groaning. Raising the car over his head with strength that didn't seem possible it threw the car down the road. As the car hit the asphalt it slid a few meters before exploding. Most likely the gas tank ruptured, and the sparks set it alight.

"Not a scratch." I hear Gabe say in my head. I smirk at the wreckage.

"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way—directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, but how do you know all this."

"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish for keeping you near me."

I was about to speak when Adamos took control of my mouth—he's been taking over a lot today.

"_**There's nothing wrong with wanting to keep your loved ones closest to you. We're here now so we'll just have to deal with it now rather than earlier or later."**_ He says before giving over control again.

My mother thinks about the statement and nods her head in agreement. He was right. There was no changing the past, we just have to deal with this now.

The minotaur turns his head in our direction and bellows in rage and starts to charge up the hill.

He'd found us.

We were still trying to get to the tree. It was only a few yards away, but the slope was getting slicker and Grover was starting to weigh us down. The minotaur was closing in and was about to be on top of us.

My mom shifts most of Grover's weight to her. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."

I didn't want to leave her, but I could feel that it was the right decision—and our only chance. I saw it staring me down with its beady black eyes. I could smell rotting meat coming off the thing.

It lowered its head in its charge, the sharp horns pointed at my chest.

The fear in my stomach made me want to run, but that wasn't an option. I knew that I couldn't outrun the thing. So, I held my ground.

"**On my mark…NOW!"**

Following his lead, I jump to the side as the bull barreled past like a freight train, then roared in frustration before turning. But not towards me this time, towards my mom who was setting Grover on the grass off to the side.

We'd made it to the top of the hill, but we were far from safe. Down I could see a valley and the lights of a farmhouse glowed through the rain. But it was half a mile away and the minotaur was with us now. There was no way I could get help in time.

The minotaur grunted as it began to kick the ground. He kept an eye on my mom, who was going downhill slowly and towards the road to draw it away from Grover.

"Run Percy!" She yelled. "I can't go any farther. Run!"

"**Percy the spear! Use my spear!" **Adamos kept telling me but I couldn't hear him. I was frozen in fear as the monster charged at her. She tried to sidestep, like she said to do, but the monster learned from the last time. His hand shot out and he had her by the neck. She struggled, kicked and pummeled as she was held in the air.

"MOM!"

"She looked at me through teared eyes and choked out one word: "Go!"

Then with a loud roar the minotaur closed his fist around my mom's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes. A blinding flash of light, and then she was simply… gone.

Then everything came back into the focus and Adamos shouted into my mind.

"**THE SPEAR!"**

I grit my teeth, anger replaced my fear in that moment. I felt strength in my limbs—the of strength I had when facing Mrs. Dodds. I ripped that metal band off my wrist, and it elongated to a beautiful spear.

The haft of the spear was a wrapped in a pitch-black grip. The butt of the spear was slightly large like a pommel at the end of a hilt of a sword as if it was meant to be swung as such and was a silvery white color. The socket that connected the blade and the haft was the same silver color. The blade made up a foot and a half of the six-foot spear. It was shaped like a dual sided blade that connected to a small sharp crescent at the socket. It was like a trident with the two outside blades being much smaller than the middle blade.

The minotaur was starting to walk towards where Grover was. He was going to kill Grover to. And I couldn't let that happen

I yelled at the minotaur. "Hey ground beef!" hoping to get its attention. The beast turned to me with hate in its eyes, clearly not liking the insult. Its attention was on me and it began to charge. I felt Adamos correct my stance and grip on the spear as the minotaur charged forth. At the last moment I jumped out of the way. The minotaur shot his hand out at me, but I was expecting that as I twist in mid air and slash with the dual sided blade of the spear cutting a gash in the monsters arm, causing it to bring it's hand back with a cry of pain. I land in a roll and immediately get back into a stance and thrust the spear into the back if its leg as it tries to slow down from its charge to turn around. A wild swing of its arms comes towards me and I jump back putting some distance between us.

I begin to circle it trying to put it's back to Grover and put myself onto the high ground.

"**Fell the earth beneath you Percy. The unstoppable and constant power. I'll help you direct it, but you must use it. Draw on my power that's available to you."** Adamos says. I try to do what he says but I don't sense anything, until something in my gut begins to pull and I feel vibrations beneath my feet.

"_What the?" _I almost stop moving.

"**That's it Percy! Now focus it on him!"**

I feel the pull and the vibrations. I feel the earth shifting underneath my feet as I focus on the minotaur and try to move the earth how I want it. The ground begins to tremble underneath the monster's feet causing it to stop, then a blunt spire of earth shoots out and slams into the minotaur's side hard, knocking it off balance and to stumble. I feel exhaustion from using Adamos's powers, but I brush it to the side.

I use that moment to rush him. I raise the spear and diagonally slash, leaving a large gash across the minotaur's chest. Its bellows are cut short as at the end of the slash I feel Adamos guide my hands into a different grip and with grit teeth I swing the blunt end of the spear in an uppercut at the monster's jaw. There was a loud crack as it happens, and I swear I saw a few teeth fly out of the monster's mouth.

I don't let up and let my instincts take over: slash, dodge, thrust, club, dodge and so on until the minotaur is covered in cuts and blood. Then a wild swing comes out and I try to block only to be knocked away by his much greater strength. I instinctively roll with it, landing on my side and rolling away before getting back up. My ribs are on fire as I breath.

"**You have 4 bruised ribs and two minor fractures and bruising on your left arm." **Adamas informs me.

The minotaur looks at me with pure hate in its eyes and begins to charge. I'm barely standing, and I don't know if I can dodge out of the way.

"**Throw the spear!"**

"_WHAT!"_

"**Don't think just throw!"**

I feel him putting me in a throwing position as the minotaur barrels towards me. I go with it as I have nothing left to lose, and my body tenses as I'm in position. Time slows down as I pull back my arm and release the spear at the minotaur. The spear rockets out of my hand in a streak of light. I see its eyes widen as it tries to turn, but its to late. Though off target the spear strikes the monster on the right shoulder and explodes in a blast of pure destructive force. I, who was a few meters away, got hit by the force and was knocked off my feet. I land on my back and the back of my head hits a rock that was laying on the ground. It feels like my skull was splitting open and my teeth were rattling. I remember seeing the minotaur thrown through the air violently.

I lay there for a few seconds before trying to move. I groan as I get up, my head in a lot of pain, but I push it aside as I stand. A faint warmth is felt in the core of my body.

"**I'm healing you Percy, but it could take some time."**

"Whatever, it just feels good. But you could have warned me first." I mutter out loud.

"**There wasn't enough time to explain." **I feel him shrug in my head.

I hear movement down towards the base of the hill. I look and I can't believe it. The minotaur was still alive. It was missing its entire right arm, covered in gashes and cuts, its left leg was broken in the wrong direction, there were burns across its face and chest, and it was missing a horn, but it was none the less alive.

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

My anger was building again. "_Why won't it just die!"_ I thought. Then Adamos moves my arm and holds it out. A split second later the spear flies back into my hand, still looking perfect, but then it begins to shrink to two feet long. The spear is now a long dagger that's used single handedly.

I walk over to the minotaur as it tries to get up, Adamos's spear in one hand and my other arm clutching my ribs. I stop in front of it and it looks at me with hate in its eyes. Anger envelops me as I removed my hand from my ribs and grab its remaining horn. I use it as a grip and plunge the blade under its jaw and into its skull. I then put my foot on the minotaur's chest and pull with all my might. I think of how it took my mother from me, how she disappeared in a flash of light. My adrenaline flooding me like high octane fuel for my muscles. The lightning and thunder were going off around me. A few seconds later there's a snap and a gurgle and the body disappears into gold dust. I'm left standing there, exhausted, aching, and emotionally drained. In my hand is the other horn of the minotaur, and the spear seems to have returned to a band on my wrist. I was bleeding in a few places, but the rain was washing most of it away.

"_Did—did I just do that?" _I think in disbelief.

"**Well I was helping you out a bit, but yeah little bro you just killed the minotaur."**

What I said next summarized how I felt about the accomplishment.

"Oh." Adamos just chuckles at my reaction.

I begin to walk towards Grover. Not even noticing that the rain is dyeing down quickly. The thunder was still rumbling but now it was off in the distance. The events were finally coming down on me. The anger faded away, and my head felt like it was splitting open, my limbs were trembling, every breath felt like it was on fire, but Grover was just over there, he needed my help.

"**Just a bit further Percy. You're almost there"** Adamos encourages me, and was still slowly healing my injuries, which were starting to feel better.

I drape Grover over my shoulder and slowly make my way into the valley. I could hear Adamos still encouraging me, but it was faint, and many other sounds were already being drowned out. I felt horrible that my mother was gone, but I had Grover and I had to get him to safety.

The last thing I remember was collapsing on a wooden porch, looking at a ceiling fan above me. Moths were flying around in the yellow light, and I could see the familiar features of a bearded man, and an unknown girl with blonde hair curled like a princess.

They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."

"Silence Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."

Then everything fades to black.

**A/N: What is up my devoted followers of the sentient celestial blueberry muffin of the universe. I bring forth to you another chapter. I'm really feeling that writers high still, either that or that's the 14 mountain dews flowing through me. Any ways to a couple reviewers yes there will be pairings. For Percy I'm leaning towards Perlia. I'll probably change her age to make it match Percy's. As for Adamos yes, the two goddess I'm considering are Artemis and Athena. I made Adamos in a way that he could have access to either goddess, so I'm not forced to lean a certain way and force a connection. I even made Adamos as a counter Athena. He's to Poseidon what Athena is to Zeus. And he pisses off Zeus like how Athena pisses off Poseidon. I find the dynamic funny. But I'm still debating which Goddess to choose so I might need some help. And another thing I would like some names to give Adamos's spear. Thanks, you loveable cinnamon buns **

**Over and out soldier OORAH **


	6. Chapter 5:The Safe Haven

Percy speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Adamos speaking through Percy**

**All characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 5**

The So-Called Safe Haven

(Percy P.O.V)

My eyes felt incredibly heavy. My body was having trouble responding. My mind was plagued by dreams. Looks at the personal life of the god that lived in my head. Many were just brief glimpses that didn't mean anything as I kept drifting in and out of consciousness. Only one dream was complete.

_(flashback dream) imagine a star wipe sequence or something_

_It was warm out. The sun was sparing no one with the heat it was giving off, even though I was sitting under a tree the shade provided little comfort. I felt groggy and lucid, but I could still focus on the scene in front of me. I looked down at the boy sitting under the tree with me and see that he was wearing a metal breast plate over a chiton, a bronze dagger strapped to his waist. his body was small, like the body of an eight-year-old but seemed athletic. I take in his features, the Greek nose, high cheek bones, and the messy raven hair that seemed to briefly shimmer with a few silver strands in the light. This was Adamos, but even younger than when I had last seen him._

"_Helios must be in a pissed mood." I hear him mutter._

_He turns back to what he was doing. He held an old-fashioned scroll that was written in a language that I couldn't understand. He sat there for a few more minutes alone before a rustle in the bushes causes him to look up, his hand going to the hilt of his dagger._

_Out of the bushes walks two figures in cloaks. One was a head and a half taller than Adamos and even myself. The second figure was smaller than the both of us, but only smaller than him by a few inches at most. Both were surveying the area, as if they were looking for something before their hooded gazes locked in our direction. I could see the Adamos's muscles loosen before he broke off into a sprint at the larger hooded figure. _

_I had expected for him to attack the two mystery travelers—and I was sort of right. He tackled the larger figure into an intense hug._

"_MOM!" He shouts with no shortage of glee._

"_Oh Adamos, my little baby how have you been?" The woman I now know as Adamos's mother—Asteria I think it was—embrace him in a hug._

"_Moomm! I'm not a baby, I'm a man. Dad says so." Adamos replies with a whine and a puff of his chest. This is met by giggles coming from the smaller cloaked figure next the Asteria._

"_And what are you laughing at?" Adamos gives the smaller figure glare that doesn't look at all threatening from the eight-year-old god._

"_Oh nothing." The small figure says pulling down the cloak, revealing a young girl with long raven hair and the same regal facial features as Adamos. "Just wondering how in Gaia's name I have such a childish older brother." She says in a playful tone._

"_Well we can't all be sticks in the mud little sister. Some of us like to make friends." Adamos retorts back._

_Adamos's sister's face turns a slight red. "I too have many friends, you've just never met them."_

"_Oh, really what are their names? Where do they live?" Adamos starts his barrage of questions. Trying to catch the younger girl of guard._

"_I don't need to tell you, you'll probably infect them with your immaturity." She says with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest._

"_Who are you calling—" Adamos growls out at his sister before being cut off._

"_ADAMOS, HECATE!" Both kids flinch at the sound of their mother raising her voice—I flinched as well, I don't know why, but all moms have that power—before turning to her. "Honestly I don't know why you two always argue whenever you first meet yet get along so well afterwards."_

_Adamos's sister—Hecate—responds to their mother first. "At this point it's a game. Whoever breaks first loses." Adamos only nods at the statement._

_Asteria only shakes her head at the antics of her two children. "Well if your little game is over then I guess we can eat."_

_Asteria walks over to the tree that Adamos was sitting under originally before snapping her fingers. Then a basket of various food and drinks appear under the shade._

"_Come now I want know all about what my baby's been up to." She says with a smile. Adamos only responds with another whine before going to sit with his mother. Hecate again giggles at her brother being treated like a small child before joining them, only earning a playful glare from Adamos this time._

_The trio sat beneath the tree and just ate and talked. It reminded me of the times I had spent with my mom. The thought made me sad. My mom was gone and there was nothing I could do about it. _

_I looked back at the family beneath me, listening in on their conversations. Adamos was going on about how he was learning to use a bow but had to learn from his aunt Hestia and Demeter because of how hopeless his father was with the weapon._

_Asteria was listening to her son while comparing a scroll that Hecate had brought with her with the one that Adamos had. She was writing more things in his than Hecate's. Apparently, it had something to do with magic and she was correcting their writing and spells, and at the amount of time Hecate saw Adamos's being corrected she began to tease him about helping him learn. Adamos did the only mature thing that he could think of—he stuck his tongue out at her._

_The sun was setting on the three. They had sat under the tree for most of the day simply talking and enjoying each other's company. Adamos and Hecate were talking about magic and drawing a bunch of things on the ground and writing in scrolls on what was drawn. Asteria only watched with a smile while her children played and goofed around with each other. Even though the two young gods seemed to fight every now and then, a battle of pride vs. stubbornness, they never meant anything bad by it and they seemed to know it. _

"_Hecate." Asteria called out. "Say goodbye to your brother it's time we head back before the others wonder why we're gone for so long."_

_Hecate looks back at her mother with a sad smile. "Yes mother." She then turns to Adamos "Good bye brother." She says, the sad smile never leaving her face._

"_Adamos." Asteria calls to her son._

"_Yes mom." Adamos says, but the look on his face clearly showed he didn't want them to leave._

"_Adamos—" Asteria says nervously, refusing to meet her son's eyes. "This—this might be the l—last time we see each other…for a while!" she adds on hastily._

"_Wha—what do you mean?" Adamos asks, the hurt in his voice evident. "Did I do something wrong? Is it because Hecate and I fight? Am I not doing well enough in magic? I'll try harder. I'll be—" He starts rambling, tears starting to form in his eyes._

"_No! No, no, no my sweet boy that's not it. That will never be it." She says wrapping her near crying son in an embrace. "I love you no matter what. You and your sister both will always make me proud, don't you ever forget that."_

"_But why then?" he asks, tears still forming._

"_It's because it's becoming to dangerous for us to see each other. The war is starting to get worse. The other titans are starting to choose sides, and many are starting to be kept under watch. I can't keep seeing you or else the other titans will start to become suspicious and I don't want them to do anything to you."_

"_I don't care! I'll protect you and Hecate from any one who comes. I've gotten better at fighting, I can take care of you two."_

"_Oh, my sweet boy, you will become someone great, I have foreseen it, but not now. You are still just a child, but there will be a day where you will be held as one of the greatest of the gods."_

"_Then we can be together?"_

_Asteria only smiles at the question before leaning down and giving her son a kiss on the forehead. Turning she lets Hecate a few last words with Adamos. _

"_So, I guess we won't be seeing each other for a while?" Hecate says, it was more a statement than a question._

"_I guess I'll have to find some one else to show off my magic to." Adamos says giving a hollow laugh._

"_Hah please, like you could those scribbles magic." Hecate mocks him playfully._

"_Sure they are, your just not smart enough to understand them." Hecate only responds with a half-heated glare before her features break into a smile. _

"_I'm going to miss you big brother. Try not to do anything too stupid."_

"_Now where is the fun in that." They both chuckle at this before embracing into a hug and then Hecate moves to her mother's side._

"_We'll see each other in the future Adamos. I don't know how long it'll be, but I know we will." Asteria says before disappearing into the brush with Hecate behind her._

"_I hope it's soon." Adamos mutters after a while before following his mother and sisters lead and disappearing into brush on the other side of the clearing._

_(Dream flashback complete) _

I had no idea as to why I kept receiving dreams about Adamos. I doubt that he's sharing them with me as he has never really talked bout his past that openly. Whenever he does open up it's usually just facts instead of giving me stories of when he was younger. The only way I could think of why I was seeing this was when Adamos was first explaining the whole possession thing to me the morning after he first showed up.

_(flash back)_

"**So Percy I know you have questions so just ask."**

"_Uh… I'm not going to go evil right?" _I asked nervously.

"**Why would you go evil?"**

"_Because I remember watching those ghost horror movies and the possessed people are like climbing walls and have their heads on backwards and stuff."_

"**Your trying to solve this with movie logic?"** he asked in an amused tone.

"_Yeah well common logic went out the window when you controlled the wind and then my body."_

"**Fair enough. But no Percy I promise that I won't control your body unless absolutely necessary. Think of me as a copilot that takes over when you can't handle things."**

"_How do I know I can trust you?" _I asked suspiciously.

"**What, you want me to pinkie promise, give you a promise ring?"**

"_I don't know? I just don't like the idea of something living in my head."_

"**Yeah well get used to it. I'm not leaving."**

"Ugh," I groan aloud. _"Are there at least things that I should know about?"_

"**Weeellll." **Adamos draws out. **"Since were two entities in the same body I'm going to be allowing my skills to assimilate with your soul. It'll be like the matrix but a slower process. You know, a bleed effect."**

"_A what effect?"_

"**A bleed effect. It is basically the process by which a subject has an impact on a separate subject due to the close proximity of the two subjects allowing it to cross over."**

"_Uh… could you say that in English please?"_

"**An EXAMPLE,"** he says, not really happy about having to dumb it down more. **"would have to be our emotions. If I feel angry at something you can feel a bit angry to even if you hold no feelings for the person of thing."**

"_Oh, that makes much more sense. Is there any thing else that will carry over?"_

"**You'll be able to use some of my powers but some will take longer to learn because some are less compatible with your soul than others so don't expect much from them.**

"_So, I'll have super powers? That sounds awesome!"_

"**Yes, you'll have super powers."** I feel the eye rolls in my head. **"Now I think that's enough questions because your late for class. Again."**

"CRAP!"

_(flash back end)_

These dreams must have been apart of that bleed effect thing that he told me about. Maybe seeing me lose my mom brought out some memories or something. I'll probably bring this up with him later. It felt wrong looking into his memories when he doesn't feel like sharing, even if he looked through mine. However, those dreams made more sense than what I was seeing during the several occasions that I managed to regain consciousness.

Every time I woke my head felt fuzzy. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, but felt like pudding in my mouth. The girl with the curly blonde hair was standing over me, a smirk on her face as she kept scooping bits of the pudding stuff off my face with a spoon.

"What will happen at the summer solstice?" she asks as soon as I begin to open my eyes.

"What?" But it came out as a croak more than an actual word.

She began to look around. As if trying to find anyone that might over hear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"

"What? I don't…" She quickly shoves the spoon in my mouth as someone knocks on the door. I blink only to open my eyes and see that she's gone, and a husky surfer looking guy is sitting in the corner of the room. Except that this guy has blonde hair and dozens of eyes all over his body. I then pass out again.

**Line Break**

"**Percy. Wake up"** I hear Adamos's voice call out in my head soothingly.

"Adamos stop it." I say aloud even though it was barely whisper. I still wanted to sleep some more.

"**Shhh careful Percy don't say my name so carelessly. Any ways it's time to wake up."**

I slowly open my eyes. Everything around me was much nicer than I was normally used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a large porch that had a nice view of green hills in the distance. There was even the smell of strawberries in the air. Everything would have been perfect if it weren't for the fact that mouth was dryer than a desert and I had a headache that split harder than a Las Vegas quick marriage. Right next to me was an iced gold colored drink.

"**I recommend you drink that stuff Perce it'll make you feel a lot better."** Adamos says eagerly like a kid waiting for Christmas.

I reach out for it, hoping he was right about it making me feel better, but my strength wasn't there and I almost dropped the glass.

"Careful." A familiar voice said to my left.

Grover was leaning against the rail of the porch, he looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks. The bags under his sunken eyes reminding me of the homeless drug users that I've seen in old alleys. Under one arm he held a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, converse hi-tops, and an orange shirt that reads CAMP HALF-BLOOD. He looked normal.

"_Adamos. Did what happened really…?"_ I ask, leaving the question hanging.

"**Yeah Perce. Everything, the chase, the goat boy, the fight with the minotaur. Everything."**

"_So my mom's…"_ I choke out in my mind.

"**No Percy she's not dead."**

"_She's not? But I saw her—"_

"**Dissolve away in a golden light?"** I only nod at his statement.

"**She was taken away before the minotaur could kill her. She's not dead but she's no longer here."**

"_But you can find her right? You're a god so you should be able to." _I ask, hoping he could help.

"**Perce, I've told you before. While I'm in you're body my powers are limited. At most I can sense things within half a mile maybe more if I push it, but she's no longer here."**

"_Oh,"_ I tried not to sound disappointed. _"But she's at least alive?"_

"**Yes, that much I know."**

"_Good. That means I can find her."_

"**Sure Perce, but you might want to talk to the satyr, he's been staring at you for a while."**

I turn back to Grover. "Yo Percy, you ok I've been calling you for a couple minutes." Grover asks worriedly.

"Uh yeah. Just—just spaced out a bit trying to process what happened."

Grover only nods at me understandingly. "You saved my life." Grover said. "I…well this was the least I could do… I went back to the hill. And brought these. I thought you would want them." He handed me the shoe box. Opening it I see inside that there were two bull horns, both with jagged bases, the only difference between the two was a large crack on one of the horns from when I threw Adamos's apparently explosive spear at the minotaur.

"How long have I been out?"

"About two days. But Percy—" I cut him off with a wave. I didn't want to hear his excuses.

I stared across the meadow. There was a winding stream, large tree groves, acres of strawberry fields, and a bright blue sky. The valley we were in was surrounded by hills, and the tallest one, which was directly in front of the house, had a huge pine tree on the top of it. Overall the scene looked like one of those gorgeous paintings you'd find in a museum. I expected everything to be bleak and grey, but my mother was still alive, she was out there, and I was going to get her back.

"It wasn't your fault." I said after a while, trying to ease his guilt.

"Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."

"Against what? The giant rampaging bull monster that threw our car fifty yards down the road?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yes! It was my job. I'm a keeper. At least … I was." He looked down as he said it.

"What do you…" I suddenly felt dizzy as I try to stand.

"Woah don't try to move to fast. Here drink a little of this." He says as he puts the glass to my lips. I recoil at the taste, not expecting the golden liquid to taste like my mother's homemade cookies.

"**Oh, gods yes. Down the entire thing Percy. It has been too damn long." **Adamos sighs in relief at the golden liquid. He controls my arms and makes me down the golden liquid in on go.

"Percy, I think that you should slow—" Grover tries to take the drink from my—Adamos's—grasp only to be stopped by Adamos giving him the universal 'one moment' sign.

Drinking it, my whole body felt a nice warmth and a huge boost of energy. Like today was going to be great. As soon as I drain the last of it and set the glass down Grover rushes to me putting his hand on my forehead.

"Uh G-man what are you doing."

"You feeling alright, you're not burning up, anything?" He begins to question with a worried tone.

"Uh yeah. I feel pretty good actually. Why do you ask?" I ask him skeptically.

"That was a big glass. You were supposed to drink a little bit at a time. Drinking all that at once could have killed you." He says as he pulls his hand away, seeing nothing wrong but still looking worriedly.

"What do you mean that could have killed me!? What did you give me!?"

"Nectar. The drink of the gods. Demi gods can drink small amounts of it, but mortals and nature spirits would be killed instantly if they tried."

I visibly froze. _"ADAMOS!"_

"**Yeah yeah I'm sorry. It's just been decades since I've been able to have any large quantity of the stuff. I got kinda excited." **He explains sheepishly.

"_So you nearly kill me for it!"_

"**No. I'm drawing from it as well. You'd probably have to down a pitcher of the stuff before it even begins to harm you. So you got nothing to worry about."**

"_You know you have a horrible habit of explaining things after they happen."_ I growl in my head.

He doesn't even retort back.

"Percy?" Grover says snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"You were zoning out again. Are you sure you're good?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine."

"Good. We should get going. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."

We walked the length of the porch, which stretched all the way around the farm house. My legs felt weaker than before as I walked. Grover offered to help me walk, but I said I was fine and just stayed close to the rail. As we came to the opposite end of the farmhouse, a breath caught in my throat.

A long stretch of beach went across the valley a mile from the farmhouse. Between here and the beach the landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture—an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, and an arena—that all looked in brand new conditions, their white marble structures glinting in the sun. In a sand pit a dozen kids were playing volleyball, canoes were gliding across the lake. Everywhere there were kids in bright orange shirts shooting arrows at a range, riding horses down trails, and some horses were even flying.

"**Welcome to camp Percy."**

"_Ugh-u-duh"_

"**I think they broke him." **He chuckles to himself.

"_This place looks so cool!"_

Adamos chuckles more. **"We can explore later. Right now, some people are waiting for you."**

I turn my head to look down the other end of the porch, there two men sat at a card table. The blonde girl who was spoon feeding me was leaning on the porch rail next to them.

The man facing me was short and chubby, he had a red nose, blood shot eyes and curly black hair. He reminded me of those chubby baby angels except he was trashy and middle-aged trailer park person.

"**Hahahahahaha oh that is a perfect description. He's also as useful as one of those trashy trailer park people."** Adamos breaks out into uncontrolled laughter. One of these days I'm going to have to ask him about these inside jokes of his.

"That's Mr. D—**that's Dionysus—**He's the camp director. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase, she's one of the campers that's been here the longest. And you already know Chiron."

"Mr. Brunner?" I cried out.

My Latin teacher turned, he was smiling at me. His eyes held a mischievous glint in them.

"Ah, good, Percy," he said, "Now we have four for pinochle." He said offering me a seat to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with his blood shot eyes and just sighed.

"Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There, I said it. Don't expect me to be happy about it.

"_**Wouldn't expect you to." **_ Adamos said taking control. **"This is a god Percy let me handle talking to him." **He told me in my mind. I was having trouble believing that the short chubby man next to me was a god.

"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner said to the girl. She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."

Annabeth said, "Sure Chiron."

She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and looked athletic. With her deep tan and curly blonde hair, she was almost exactly what I pictured a California girl to look like, except her ruined the image. They were a stormy grey, the kept looking me over like they were trying to find any weakness I had. She looked at the minotaur horn in my hand and back at me and I expected a compliment of some kind.

Instead she said, "You drool in your sleep."

"_**Yeah well you have horrible bed side manners."**_ Adamos said while still in control, holding a neutral expression.

She glared back at Adamos with a faint red in her cheeks. "I helped you and that's what you have to say."

"_**Don't think I don't remember you trying to interrogate me about whatever the summer solstice is and then trying to choke me with a spoon."**_ He replied coolly. I had totally forgot about that, but he must have been more awake while I was out of it.

"Annabeth." Mr. Brunner said with a warning tone.

"But Chiron he could—"

"Enough," He cuts her off. "I'm putting an end to this. Just… please go do as I ask." He says in a calm tone.

She looks at him for a moment before nodding and taking off down lawn, but not before throwing a glare our way.

"I'm sorry that that happened Percy, she has always been a curious child." He says turning back to me.

"_**It's alright, I got better in the end so it's fine." **_Adamos said.

Mr. D just belched loudly while shuffling his cards. "Girl snoops around against her own good, honestly she's a pest. It's a wonder I haven't turned her into a dolphin." He says to no one in particular.

"Although I must say Percy," Mr. Brunner—Chiron—broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper, I'd hate to think that I'd wasted my time."

"_House call?"_ I ask Adamos.

"**Perce, they've been calling Mr. Brunner, Chiron. You know Chiron the eternal trainer of heroes."**

"_Wasn't he half horse?"_

"**A centaur and remember what I said about the Mist."**

"_Oh."_

At the same time Adamos was holding a conversation with Chiron as he was with Percy.

"_**Well I guess I'm glad that I wasn't a waste of time. However, any time after the whole Dodds attack would have been wasted by you wanting me to 'keep my ignorance'."**_ Adamos says with no lack of sarcasm.

"So, you heard that conversation, did you?" He said already knowing the answer. Adamos only nods in response.

"I must admit that it wasn't my best decision, but I wasn't sure of you at first. I had contacted your mother to tell her we were keeping an eye on you since Grover thought that there was something special about you. I wanted to make sure you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. And since you managed to make it to camp alive and killed a monster you surpassed my expectations."

Adamos just gave huff of agreement but kept his face neutral.

"Grover are you playing or not?" Mr. D said impatiently.

"Y-Yes sir," Grover trembled as he sat down at the table.

"You _do_ know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D asked suspiciously to me.

"_**I know the rules and such."**_ Adamos responds with a shrug.

"_What but I've never played this game before, much less heard of it." _

"**You might not but I do know how to play."**

"_**So, are we playing for fun or are we betting?" **_Adamos said, not bothering to look up from his cards.

"Percy this game is just for fun. I don't know if I condone betting with minors." Chiron sent a scolding look Adamos's way.

"_Adamos what are you doing? We don't have anything to bet anyways."_

"_**Relax I was only kidding."**_ He says to ease both Chiron and Percy.

After a few hands Chiron broke the silence between the players. "Percy about your mother—"

"_**She's alive."**_

"Percy, I know it's hard to acc—" Chiron says before being cut off once again.

"_**She is alive." **_Adamos repeats in a stern tone finally looking Chiron in the eyes with a determined look. _**"She was taken in a flash of light. Now I don't know about you, but I don't remember any myth that says that the mino—ehm, the monster," **_he says catching himself, _**"having any magical capabilities, unless the monsters can just crush a person into pure light than She. Is. Alive."**_ Adamos's tone leaving no room for argument.

"He has you there my dear centaur." Both figures turn to Mr. D as he finally speaks. Neither expecting the chubby little man to jump in their conversation. "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" he cackles as his attention fully returns to the game at hand. Meanwhile Grover was busy snacking on the empty tin can that Mr. D had on the table.

"All right then Percy, before your mother was 'taken' what did she tell you about this camp?" Chiron questioned, changing the topic.

"_**She told me enough. That this was a safe haven, that I was different, and from personal experience that I guess the Greek myths that we learned are real?"**_

"Yes, yes they are all very much real. Though I must say you are taking this very well. Many other campers that we explain this to usually deny it in the beginning."

"_**Well when you fight a seven-foot-tall bull monster to the death and find out your 'friend'," **_No one else heard it but Percy who was sharing a body with Adamos could hear, or rather feel, the contempt that he used when referring to Grover. _**"Is a satyr from myth. Then your horizons tend to broaden."**_

Chiron just kept staring at Adamos as if he was trying to find any doubts or falsities to his claims, before finally giving a nod to show he agreed with his answer. "If you are sure that you know this much than I guess we won't need to show you our orientation film."

"_They have an orientation film for this? Should we watch it anyways it may help." _I ask. I was actually hoping that this film would explain a few questions that I still had.

"**No, we don't need it. I'm still going to teach you all that you need to know."**

"Well lucky us. I guess that saves us the trouble of teaching the brat." Mr. D says. He then waves his hand, causing a goblet to appear. I wasn't in control of my body but if I was then my jaw would have probably dropped at what just happened. Other than Adamos this is the only other time I had seen a god show off.

"_Did he just…with the goblet."_

"**Yes Percy, I told you he was Dionysus, didn't I?" **

"_Yeah but come look at him, he doesn't even look godly." _I had to point out.

"**I know, he's kind of useless and doesn't really do much, but he's powerful in his own ways." **He thinks with a small chuckle.

"Mr. D," Chiron warned, "Your restrictions."

"_**Res**__tric__**tions?"**_ Adamos and I say at the same time. Both clearly confused.

Mr. D just looked at the goblet of wine and feigned innocence (Badly I might add), "Dear me," he said to the sky, "Old habits! Sorry!"

The only response was thunder off in the distance.

Mr. D just waved his hand again and in the place of the goblet was a fresh can of diet coke. He just sighed unhappily as he began to drink the beverage before going back to his cards.

Chiron just winked and chuckled at me and Adamos. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph a while back that was declared off limits."

"**I bet ole' sparkle fingers was planning on sleeping with that nymph himself."** Adamos chuckles internally.

"_He'd really punish his son for something like that?"_

"**Well I wouldn't put it past him, but I bet he probably hid that fact from the other gods."**

"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time he started the prohibition." Mr. D shuttered at the word. "Those were the worst ten years ever! The second time—well she was really pretty, and I couldn't stay away—the second time, he sent me here to this camp for you brats. 'Be a better influence' he said. 'Work with youths' he said. Ha. Torture is more like it."

Mr. D was sounding less and less like a god to me and more like a child every moment that passed.

"_**Don't you have a wife?" **_Adamos said clearly meaning it as a blow to the wine god.

Mr. D then turned to Adamos and had a stare down with my resident god. Neither was dropping their gazes as they were having a silent battle of wills. I was looking through my own eyes could see the power in the camp directors' purple eyes. I saw scenes of madness, soldiers in a drunken and crazed bloodlust, nonbelievers being strangled with vines, and people being turned into animals. I felt like groveling, as if this was just a fraction of his power, and if he really wanted to he could do things to me that would land me in a mental hospital talking about pudding and pinwheels. I had to figuratively shut my eyes so I wouldn't have to look. A few moments pass of nothing happening, Chiron had a look on his face, while Grover looked ready to pass out at any moment.

"Humph I guess this one actually has some back bone. Might make things interesting finally." He said, his voice laced with a bit of amusement before turning serious. "But make no mistake brat, give me a good enough reason and I'll turn you into a dolphin."

Adamos just gave him a small smile._** "Of course, sir."**_ He says, before showing the winning hand, he has beating everyone else at the table over the course of the game.

"Shit" Mr. D says with a scowl, throwing down his cards.

"Mr. D language please." Chiron chastises him.

"Fine, fine." He said but it didn't look like he cared at all. "Congrats Peter." He began to rise with a sour look on his face. Grover was getting up along with him. "I'm tired, I'm going to take a nap before I have to be at the camp fire tonight." He turns to Grover. "But first, Grover, we need to talk about, again, about your less than satisfactory performance on this assignment."

Grover visibly flinched at the words. "Y—yes sir."

Then he turned to us. "And you. Cabin eleven Percy Jackson. And don't go causing problems for me." He says through slightly narrowed eyes. He walked into the farm house with Grover right on his heels.

"_Grover will be fine right? Nothings going to happen to him?"_ I ask, worrying about my friend.

"_**So what's up with that?"**_ Adamos ignores me and asks Chiron for me, but from what I know of him I doubt he actually cared about Grover.

Chiron just had a slightly troubled look on his face before he schools his features. "Mr. D isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He isn't allowed back on Olympus and has to live in this camp for, I guess eighty-seven more years if I remember correctly. As for Grover he's only going to give him a report on his job."

"_**Must have been some nymph to warrant this kind of punishment. But it could have been worse. He should be grateful."**_ Adamos mutters that last bit to himself, but apparently Chiron heard and made a face but didn't say anything about it. I didn't really care as I was just glad Grover wasn't in any real danger. I still thought of him as my friend.

"So, Percy. Do you have any questions that you want to ask?" Chiron asks, his eyes looking like he was expecting me to start exploding with questions. Before rolling off the porch and onto the lawn.

"_Ask him if we can leave to find my mom."_ I ask wanting to start looking right away.

"_**Nope."**_ Adamos says, responding to both our conversations following him onto the lawn.

"Hmm well if you do have any don't hesitate to ask, but for now we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. You'll make new friends and there will be plenty of time tomorrow for lessons. Besides, there will be smores tonight and I absolutely adore chocolate." As he finished, he began to rise from his wheel chair. If Adamos wasn't in control I once again would have probably had a 'WTF just happened' look on my face. As he rose the blanket that he had over his legs fell off to reveal fake legs. As he kept rising his real 'legs' touched the grass. They were a pure white and looked like velvet fur over strong muscle and sinew. More had come out revealing the full body of a horse beneath his waist. "What a relief, if I had stayed in their much longer, I'm afraid my joints would have locked into place. Come now Percy it's time we showed you around camp" He says then starts walking towards the camp below. Adamos matching pace next to him.

**A/N: Greeting members of the intergalactic book club. Today Sharon has brought the space macaroons. I would like to thank you all and ask that you write reviews as any criticism you give can be good in the long run. Except unnecessary flaming, whoever does that can shove a carrot up their ass for discouraging writers on this site. Any who please bear with me as this is my first ever story so I know it's still crap and I want to get better at writing. Maybe get as good as Greed720, bvictor103, or some other great fanfic authors. Any ways regarding pairings Percy will be with Thalia because screw Annabeth, I never really liked her. That's not to say she's not important to the story but you know, middle fingers. As for Adamos I would like you to help me decide on his pairing. Its either Athena or Artemis. Give some feedback, make a sandwich, do whatever I don't care I'm not your supervisor. Also when reading or writing Adamos's past I like to listen to the assassins creed odyssey characters speak with their accents and put it in. But thanks for your support you middle age house wives that look for attention and excitement in the form of group reading sessions.**


	7. Chapter 6: I Earn Street Cred

Percy speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

**Adamos thoughts**

_**Adamos speaking through Percy**_

**All characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 6**

I Earn Some Street Cred

(Percy P.O.V)

Once we left the porch of the big house Adamos decided to give me my body back. I was still internally questioning how my Latin teacher was a horse, how he fit in that wheelchair, and what was in that orientation film. I only decided to push my thoughts for later when I realized that I was walking behind Chiron. I remember having to do pooper scooper duty at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade when I was younger, and I wasn't interested in staying behind him any longer.

"So Chiron, can I ask you something?" I asked him while we were still walking down the lawn.

"Of course, Percy, I'm always glad to answer as best as I can." He says with I glimmer in his eye. I recognize it as the one he always had when I answered a question correctly in class.

"If the Greek gods are real what about the God. Like from the bible. Does he exist?" I ask. I mean I might not know everything about other religions, but I do know that they were worshipped.

"Well now," Chiron said, rubbing his chin with his hand. "God, the capital G-God is an entirely different matter, but I doubt you would want to talk about the metaphysical philosophies of the universe."

"**I AM NOT METAPHYSICAL!"**

"_Augh jeez dude you don't have to yell in my head. And what do you mean you?"_ I ask still getting over the sudden headache of someone screaming in your head.

"**That is a question for later."**

"_But—"_

"**Later, he's starting the tour."** Adamos says, once again avoiding my questions with a stroke of luck or a miracle or whatever.

The tour itself was actually pretty good. I suspected that if Chiron ever stopped being a teacher, he could be the best tour guide. We passed the volley ball pit first. There were several campers nudging each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horns that I was carrying and whispered, "That's him."

Most of the campers were older than me. The satyrs were bigger than Grover, and all of them were only wearing orange shirts with CAMP HALF-BLOOD written on them and were lacking any pants. I didn't really focus on the satyrs for too long because I kept hearing Adamos muttering some thing about 'horns' and 'trophies' in the back of my mind and I didn't want to see where that went. It was the campers that unsettled me though. The way that they all looked at me as if they were expecting me to do something amazing for them, or a flip.

"**Ah don't let it get to you Percy, they're just curious about the new guy. I mean you've been the new guy many times at school, right?"** He says trying to calm me.

"_Y—Yeah this is just like that. New guy."_ I think, not entirely agreeing with the thought but not disagreeing with it.

I look back at the farm house. The building was a lot larger than I thought it was. It was a four-story tall, sky blue building with white trim. It reminded me of a beach house or a seaside lodging. I was looking at the brass eagle weather vane on the roof when I noticed something, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic. Something moved the curtain, just for a split second, and I had the feeling I was being watched.

"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.

He looked to where I was pointing, and the smile he had faded away. "Just the attic."

"Does someone live up there?" I push further.

"No," He said with a tone that killed my want to ask again. "Not a single living thing."

"_Do you know what's up there?"_ i asked Adamos. But Adamos chose to stay quiet. I felt that Chiron was telling me the truth, but I know that something moved the curtain.

"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, but I could tell he was forcing the cheer just a bit. "Lots to see."

We walked to the strawberry fields, where there were campers picking bushels of berries while a satyr was playing a tune on his reed pipes. Chiron was telling me about how the camp grew them for export to many New York restaurants and for Olympus itself.

"It pays for the camps expenses," He explained, "And the strawberries take almost no effort to grow." Chiron was explaining how Mr. D had this effect on fruit producing plants. Apparently, they grow like crazy when he's around, but it works best with wine grapes, but he was restricted from growing those. I asked why and apparently mortals can't handle the godly grown alcohol its made into and the last time someone drank one glass they were immediately plastered beyond belief and ran around naked in Time Square.

Watching the satyr play his reeds a little only reminded me of Grover. I kept wondering if he was still getting chewed out by Mr. D.

"Grover won't get into to much trouble will he?" I ask turning to Chiron. "He was a good protector." Adamos just snorts but I ignore it.

Chiron just sighed. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal he must demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper. He must find a demigod and bring them safely to camp."

"But he did that!"

"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid that they won't see this as a success. He did after all lose you in New York, then the ah… events concerning your mother. As well as the fact that you had to carry Grover across the boundary while he was unconscious. The council will question if Grover showed any courage at all."

"**He was an adequate meat shield at best. Though I doubt they'll let him pass as satyrs were always a cowardly breed."** Adamos puts in his two cents after listening to Chiron's reasons.

"_But it's our fault. If we didn't give him the slip at the bus station, we—"_

"**Would have still been chased by monsters."**

"_But Grover would probably been nearby, and we wouldn't have had to fight the Minotaur and just headed straight for camp." _I shoot back.

"**I doubt it. The Minotaur would have found you either way or some other monster. That fight would have happened regardless. It's the goat's own fault for passing out."**

"_And how do you know this all would have happened?"_ I reply back with some frustration.

"**A. Because I'm the god of knowledge. Its my job to know stuff. B. because I've been tracking the number of monsters that were following your scent the entire time, and C. When you work closely with the fates you learn to expect some challenges in your way. They rarely make things easy."**

I had nothing to say to that. Deep down I knew he was right. Even if I stayed some of these things would probably still happen, or at least something similar. But I still felt guilty about Grover getting into trouble since me ditching him still made it worse for him.

"He'll get a second chance, won't he?" I ask hoping for the best.

Chiron winced "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age…"

"Wait. How old is he?"

"Oh, twenty-eight."

I give Chiron a disbelieving look "What! And he's still in the sixth grade!?"

"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans do Percy—**And are four times as slow minded—**Grover has been the equivalent of a middle schooler for the past six years."

"That's horrible."

"**Yeah imagine being in that awkward phase for many years."** Adamos figuratively shivers at the idea.

"Quite," Chiron agrees. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, as well as being less accomplished in woodland magic as compared to other satyrs. But he wanted to pursue his dream desperately enough. Maybe now he'll have to find some other career."

"Well what happened the first time that was so bad?"

Chiron just looked away. "Let's get moving, shall we?"

"_Do you know what happened?"_

"**Yeah I know OF what happened. I wasn't there though. The satyr failed to bring a demigod to camp and she died protecting her friends. End of story."**

"_Oh… that is pretty bad."_

"**Yeah but it's best if you try not to bring it up. They didn't feel like you should know for a reason and I'm only telling you the bar minimum Perce. Just don't talk about it because I doubt, you're a good enough liar to get away with knowing."**

"_Alright I'll try not to bring it up."_

"**Lets just focus on the tour, then we can plan out your training so you can get your mother back."** My only response is a determined nod.

"Come Percy. Let's go see the woods." Chiron called back. As we got closer, I saw just how huge the forest truly was. It covered a lot of the valley with giant trees that seemed to have been here for many decades if not a few centuries.

"The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go in armed." Chiron said.

"Stocked with what? And armed with what?" I ask.

"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday. Do you have your own sword and shield?"

My only response was a raised brow at the question of me owning a weapon. I mean my mom barely lets me use a kitchen knife much less a sword.

"Right, I apologize for getting ahead of myself. We'll have to visit the armory later, I believe a size five will suit you just fine."

I was tempted to ask why a summer camp would need an armory before Adamos reminded me that they taught demigods how to kill monsters. I made mental notes to ask him more about all of this later, so at the moment I just continued the tour. We saw the archery ranges, the canoeing lake, the stables (Chiron looked at them like they were the bane of his existence), the javelin range, the sing along amphitheater, and an arena where the hold sword and shield matches.

"So, a fight club?"

"In a way yes. Cabins can challenge each other for any reason like better shower times or chores. They're not lethal. Usually." He explained." And over there is the mess hall." Chiron said as he pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed with Greek marble columns that sat atop a hill. It was all open air, meaning no walls or roof.

"What do you do when it rains?" I ask, not wanting to enjoy a soggy burger.

Chiron looked at me with an amused expression. "We still have to eat, don't we?" before trotting off.

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_ I think. I was getting really tired of people dancing around subjects with me.

"**The camp has wards that control the weather everywhere. I bet it will only rain if they want it to."**

"_Well why couldn't he just say that!?"_ I asked in my head. Adamos just gave an uncommitted shrug in my mind.

Chiron finally showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them arranged into a U shape near the woods, with two at the base and five at the sides. They were some of the most bizarre buildings I'd seen together. Other than the large brass numbers that sat above each door they looked nothing alike. The one labeled nine, looked like a factory, with smoke stacks jutting from the roof. Number four had a grass roof and the walls were coated with vines. Number seven was solid gold and seemed way to over the top in my opinion since I couldn't look at it for more than a few seconds directly with out my eyes burning. Each cabin faced an area that was covered in marble statues, and at the center was a large fire pit. The pit was still alight even though it was in the afternoon. Next to it a small girl was poking at the coals, tending to the fire.

"**We need to go down there when no one's around."**

"_Why?"_

"**We're going to talk to that girl, she's important."** He says. I don't know how a little girl could help us, but his tone told me that we would talk to her whether I wanted to or not.

Looking towards the curve of the U I saw a pair of matching buildings. The large white columns and slab walls reminded me of mausoleums. The one labeled as one was the largest of the twelve buildings. It had large bronze doors that shimmered with holographic lightning bolts.

"**Sparkle finger's cabin."** Adamos says, and I can feel the loathing that he has for the I turn to look at the sister building labeled cabin two. It had more grace than cabin one, with slimmer columns that were decorated with pomegranates and flowers. The feeling of loathing that Adamos was putting off slowly ebbed away at the sight of the second cabin. It was replaced by a solemn feeling that I couldn't place and choose not to voice my thoughts on these feelings.

"Zeus and Hera?" I guess.

"You are correct." Chiron said.

"Why do their cabins look so empty?" I ask.

"Well Lady Hera is the goddess of marriage, so she doesn't have children outside of with Lord Zeus. While certain reasons Lord Zeus hasn't had a child in quite a while. So no one stays in cabins one and two." Chiron explained.

I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left. It wasn't overly dramatic looking like cabin one. It was built low and solid. The outer walls were decorated with seashells and bits of coral. The cabin looked as if it were made from stone on the sea floor.

"**This is dad's cabin. You'll be moved here when you get claimed." **Adamos answers my unasked question.

"_Why can't I just live their now?"_

"**You have to be claimed first. Vampire rules. You can't go in without permission."**

Turning back to Chiron I begin walking to see the rest of the cabins. Cabin five was a real piece of work. It looked like someone decided to do a horrible finger paint job. The roof was lined with barbed wire, a boar's head hung over the doorway. Inside there were a bunch of extra large and extra mean boys and girls, arm wrestling and listening to loud rock music. The loudest was a girl that looked a couple years older than me. She took one look at me and gave me an evil look.

"So, I don't see any other centaurs." I say after walking away from the poster children of anger management issues.

"That is because my kinsman are… eh barbaric and wild to say the least. They wouldn't fit here at camp. You're more likely to find them in the wild or at a sporting event."

"Oh. Are there any other mythical beings I should know about?"

"Well there are the nymphs that live in the forests and the coast. And the cleaning harpies that work for camp, but I advise you not to wander around after curfew or they will be allowed to eat you." He says with a hint of humor in his voice. I just decide to chuckle with him and take it as a joke.

"Oh, look Annabeth is waiting for us." He says drawing my attention away.

The blonde girl that I met at the big house was sitting in front of the last cabin on the left, numbered eleven, reading a book. When we reached her, she glared at me critically, as she was obviously not pleased with how she got in trouble. I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out what the title said. My dyslexia was acting up and making it hard to read what was on the book. It took me a moment to realize that the title wasn't even in English.

"Annabeth, I have a masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?" Chiron asked.

"Yes sir." She said still clearly not liking it.

"Percy this is Cabin Eleven!" Chiron said, opening his arms in as grand gesture. "Make yourself at home."

Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular cabin at a summer camp. The walls were covered with peeling paint, making it look really old. Above the doorway was a symbol of two snakes wrapped around a winged staff. The inside of the cabin was packed to the brim with people. More than the max occupancy so it just screamed fire hazard. Chiron waited outside of the cabin as he was to large for the doorway, but when they saw him all of the campers in the cabin bowed.

"Well, I wish you luck Percy. I'll see you at dinner." He said before he galloped towards the archery range.

I stood in the doorway, looking at the kinds who were no longer bowing. They appeared to be sizing me up.

"**So, we'll have to earn our rep."** Adamos said mischievously. **"Good."** Needless to say, I had a slight fear for the other campers.

"Well. Go on." Annabeth said expectantly.

At the prompt I stood up straight, set a determined expression on my face…

Then trip through the doorway. _"Smooth Jackson, smooth."_

The other campers just snicker at me but don't say anything.

"Percy Jackson meet Cabin Eleven." Annabeth announced.

"Regular or undetermined?" I heard a camper in the back shout.

I didn't really know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."

Then everyone groaned. Then a boy that seemed to be older than everyone else came forward. He looked to be about eighteen to nineteen years old. He was tall and muscular, with short, sandy blonde hair, and a friendly smile. His attire matched everyone else's, an orange camp shirt, cargo pants, sandals, and a necklace with clay beads. The most notable thing however was the large white scar that ran from his right eye to the bottom of his jaw.

"Now, now you guys. We're all here to welcome him. Welcome Percy. You can have that spot on the floor over there." He said while pointing to a small empty space in the corner of the room. It was small, I mean small. It looked like it was just about my size, from head to toe, so it meant no stretching.

"This is Luke." Annabeth said, though she sounded different. Turning back, she had a light blush on her face when she was looking at Luke. When she saw me looking at her, her expression hardened. "He's your councilor, for now."

"For now?"

"You're undetermined," Luke said. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're staying here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers. After all Hermes is the god of travelers."

"**If I had my own cabin, I'd let them stay in it. I haven't really had many kids over the millennias so there'd be enough room, and it'd look amazing with a kick ass sound system, and a moat."**

"_A moat?"_

"**Damn straight a moat. They'll be like 'hey you see that building with a kick ass moat? I wonder what awesome dude that belongs to.' And I'll have a large and amazing cabin for all to come and enjoy. I can already see the movie nights that will happen."** Adamos says as he drifts of into his own fascinations and planning for this supposed cabin.

I look at some of the campers faces. Some of them had sad and suspicious faces, some had stupid grins and I saw that they were eyeing my Minotaur horns. Then I remember that Hermes is also the god of thieves. "How long will I be staying here?" I ask.

"Until your parent claims you." Luke replies.

"How long does that take?"

This only got a laugh out of the other campers.

"_What's so funny?"_

"**I guess they've stayed here unclaimed for quite a while. Pretty sad really."** Adamos said.

"Come on, I'll show you the volleyball pit." Annabeth said, pulling me away.

"But I've already seen it."

"Just come on." She says pulling me out of the cabin. When we were a few meters away from the cabin she turned to me. "Jackson, your going to have to do better than that."

"What?"

She just rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath. "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

"What's your problem." I said getting angry

"My problem is that you were the one to fight the Minotaur. Do you know how many campers wished that they had that chance?"

"To what? Get killed?" I asked incredulously.

"To fight monsters like that, to kill monsters like the minotaur and gain honor."

"Yes, because I've felt so honored ever since I've got here." I said with my voice full of sarcasm.

"_What is her deal?"_

"**Who knows. **

"Don't mock them." She says. "Many campers would kill to have been in your position."

"No. If they really knew they wouldn't." I say, giving her a glare, Annabeth didn't back down and just glared back.

"Killing the Minotaur is a big deal. For many campers they see it as a way to be recognized by their parents."

"Yeah it must not be that big of a deal because I haven't been claimed." I say pointing it out.

"Well maybe it'll happen at dinner or later. The gods don't always answer right away." She says but there was the barest trace of doubt in her voice.

"Whatever, is this all you wanted to talk to me about?" I really wanted to get away from this conversation because she was starting to get on my nerves.

"Actually, I wa—" started to speak before being cut off.

A Husky voice called out, "Well, well! A newbie!"

I turned around to see the large mean girl I saw earlier in front of cabin five. She walked over towards us. She had three other girls from the cabin behind her, each one looking mean and wearing a matching camo jacket.

"**It's like 'Mean Girls' army edition."**

"Clarisse," Annabeth sighs, finally putting name to the face, "Why don't you go polish your spear or something."

"Sure princess," Clarisse mocked. "So, I can run you through with it on Friday."

"Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which my mind translated the supposed insult to 'Go to the crows'. Adamos however was the one who seemed to get the angriest about that statement though.

"_**Screw you blondie! Don't you dare go using crows as an insult! The are noble and majestic birds!"**_ Adamos yelled at them out of nowhere. Annabeth just gave me a weird look, not expecting Adamos's sudden outburst. Clarisse just seemed to be sizing me up.

"Who's this little runt."

"_Great now their attentions on me thanks a lot."_

"**I'm not apologizing. She used one of my sacred animals as an insult I'm gonna insult her back."**

"Percy Jackson," Annabeth says, bringing my attention back to the two girls. "This is Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."

I raise a brow at this. "So, the war god?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that punk?" Clarisse sneered at me.

"No, it just explains the bad smell."

"**Oh, kids got some bite. That was pretty good." **I felt pretty good about my comeback to.

Clarisse growled at the remark. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies Prissy."

"Percy."

"Prissy," She says clearly adamant on not using my name. "Come on I'll show you."

"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.

"Stay out of it wise girl."

"**That's a pretty stupid nickname."**

"_Why do you care?"_

"**As a god of creativity I take insult to something so… uninspired."**

Annbeth for her part didn't seem fazed by the nickname, but had a rather pained look on her face, like she knew what was coming. She looked like she was torn between helping or not, but I didn't really want her help. It was like Adamos said earlier, I had to make my own rep. I handed Annabeth both of my minotaur horns for safe keeping and got ready to fight. I was going to use what little Adamos has taught me so far, but before I knew it, Clarisse was behind me and dragging me by the neck to a cinderblock shaped building.

"**Damn this girls got an iron grip. Who's her mom, the truckosaurus?"**

"_Your making jokes at a time like this? Why don't you help me!"_

"**Ugh fine. Just follow what I say."**

Once I stopped the overall pointless punches and kicks that barely seemed to faze the larger girl, I put what Adamos told me into action. Dropping lower to the ground in a squat, Clarisse's hand still firmly around my neck. I put a lot of force turning my body so that I face her, bringing my elbow up to slam into her wrist, knocking her hand away before grabbing it and her upper arm and executing a perfect over the shoulder throw. Clarisse lands on her back with the wind slightly knocked out of her. Her feature become even angrier than before. I back up and try to put myself in a fighting stance when I feel both of my arms restrained. Two of the girls that came with Clarisse were restraining me. Together the just carried me towards the building that I now knew was the bathroom from the signs hanging around. I tried to escape again but these girls were almost as strong as Clarisse herself.

"For that you'll be thoroughly introduced to camp." Clarisse snarled after getting back up and leading us to the restrooms.

They dragged me into the girl's restroom. There was a line of toilets on the wall to the right and shower on the left wall. It smelled like any other public restroom. However, one thought that managed to come to mind was that if the gods owned the camp, why did the restrooms suck so much?

Clarisse and her friends were all just laughing as I tried to struggle from their grip.

"**Come on Percy, get out. I don't feel like experiencing the taste of toilet water."**

"_I'm trying!"_ I said trying to find the strength that I used against the Minotaur. Even without the spear I still did some physically impressive things, but the strength wasn't there.

"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me towards the toilet. "I bet the Minotaur probably died cause he couldn't stop laughing at him."

Annabeth just stood in the corner with her hands over her eyes, but I could see that she was still watching through the cracks in her fingers.

Clarisse's goons just shoved me to my knees before letting go. I tried to get back up, but Clarisse just pushed my head towards the toilet bowl. It smelled worse up close.

"**Percy!?"** Adamos said, his voice having a slight trace of panic at being so close to the disgusting water.

I didn't respond as I was focusing more on trying to keep my head up. I really didn't want to touch the water.

"**Percy, try to feel for the water, use it against them."**

"_I'm not feeling this gross stuff."_

"**No sense it, feel FOR it, control it like you did at the museum when dragged Nancy into the fountain." **Adamos explained.

"_But that was a fluke!"_ I mentally shout at him.

"**Then just remake the fluke!" **Adamos shouts back.

Deciding that it was better than being plunged head first into the toilet I tried to feel around for the water. I felt nothing, not really knowing what to look for. Until I sensed something moving. It was flowing around me, and I reached out for whatever it was. As I grasped whatever it was, I felt a sharp pull in my gut. I heard the piping around me begin to rumble and I tightened my grip on the flow, hoping that whatever it was I was doing was working. Clarisse's grip on my head loosened as the water in the bowl shot out of the toilet, flowing around and avoiding my head. The next thing that happened was the sound of Clarisse screaming as I dropped to the floor. I turned to see what was happening, and the water just hit Clarisse in the face hard enough to knock her over. The water was hitting her so hard that she began to slide into the shower stall. As she struggled under the pressure the rest of the toilets erupted and went after her friends. They were being swept out of the bathroom by the water pressure, and once the were clear of the entrance I felt the tug in my gut lessen as the water stopped spraying. The entire bathroom was flooded, even Annabeth wasn't spared as she stood there in the same spot, completely soaked, staring at me in shock. Out of the entire room I realized that I was standing in the only dry spot. Perks of being the son of Poseidon I guess.

I stood up shakily and walked towards the entrance to the rest room. Outside Clarisse and her friends were sprawled out in the mud, with a group of campers gawking at them. Clarisse was completely soaked and smelled of sewage.

She looked at me with a look filled with hate. "Your dead new kid. Totally dead!"

I couldn't help but retort back. "You want to gargle on toilet water again Clarisse? Shut your mouth."

Her friends, not wanting to go through another wash, had to drag her back to their cabin by force. The other campers all made a path so as not to get kicked in the face by Clarisse's flailing feet. Annabeth just stared at me. It was hard to tell if she was grossed out or angry at me for dousing her to.

"**Maybe both?"**

"_Probably."_

"So… uh, what are you thinking." I asked, not really feeling comfortable with the way she was looking at me.

"I'm thinking," She said, "That I want you on my team for capture the flag."

"_That is not at all what I expected her to say."_

"**Nope."** Adamos said popping the p.

**Line break**

It had been an exhausting day at camp in more ways than one. After the whole toilet incident, word spread quickly and now everywhere I go campers just point and whisper about me. Annabeth, who was still wet at the time, showed me a few more places. We went by the metal shop (Adamos seemed excited about that), the arts and crafts room (His mood soured at the sight of a few satyrs sand blasting a statue of a goat man), and the climbing wall, which had lava pouring out the sides, shook, and clashed together (That got him back to an excitable mood). We ended the tour at the canoeing lake. Annabeth, still with a less than pleased face left after telling me that dinner was at seven-thirty. This left just me and Adamos on the beach.

"_So. Todays been an event."_ I think flatly.

"**Well it could have gone worse. You could be the one covered in toilet water."** Adamos points out.

"_I guess. But hey I've been meaning to ask you something about earlier."_

"**Go ahead."**

"_Well when I asked Chiron about the Capital G-God you were pretty mad. Want to share with the class?"_

Adamos just lets out a sigh. **"I was kinda hoping you would forget about that."**

"_Yeah—no. So, spill."_

"**Well you know how Chiron said that the gods move with the west. How the moved to Rome, then Spain, then England and yada yada."**

"_Yeah?"_ I say still not knowing where he was going with this.

"**Well I was super pissed at the Romans for a few things that I won't bother explaining since it doesn't really matter right now. So one of the most prominent things that I did was set off Mt. Vesuvius, and destroyed Pompeii—"**

"_Wait! You caused the eruption in Pompeii. That was like, one of the worst disasters in history!"_

"**Percy, I'm a god of destruction, earth, disasters, and volcanoes among other domains. You should have expected me to have done things like this."**

"_I guess. It's just different hearing you admit to it. Any way sorry go on."_

"**Right, so I destroyed Pompeii, but that didn't really help very much. So I came up with another plan. You see a few centuries before Pompeii I was in Egypt and I met a guy named Moses—"**

"_Like THE Moses. Ten commandments Moses!?"_

"**Yes, now are you going to let me finish?"**

"_Sorry."_

"**Ok so Moses was looking for wisdom from God, so I set a bush on fire with the flames of life. They burn a white color and don't actually hurt unless I want them to. He was actually suffering from some serious heart disease at the time, so I just cured it for him. Anyways set the bush on fire, hid behind a rock and gave him the Ten Commandments, never suspected a thing, thought I was the voice of god. Then he offered a bunch of sacrifices for the plagues, locusts and such, treasures not human sacrifices just so you know. He could afford a lot because he didn't exactly leave poor when he left Egypt, he was still the adopted son of a princess. He gave up the last of his possessions so I could move the red sea for him. That's when they started calling me God. It was only later when Jesus was born when it became a big thing and I made set my plans into motion."**

"_So are you Jesus's dad or something. Cause he was born from the virgin Mary."_

"**Yes but let me explain, by then I was pretty commonly known as God by various groups. So, when I was in Rome, I did meet Mary and Joseph. Mary was actually sterile and couldn't have children. So with a little blessing I was able to give Mary a child without any physical contact involved. He was the first time that I blessed someone with a child so I may have gone overboard with the amount of powers I gave him as a demigod. Performing all those miracles that no other demigod could do plus the magic I did teach him. Luckily, he grew up to be such a good kid, I am always proud of him. I do feel guilty about using my son to tear apart the Roman Empire, but he said that as long as I help the masses with him, he was fine. You can bet your ass that I made sure he went to Elysium for it."**

"_So let me get this straight. You were behind many of the bibles stories."_

"**Yes."**

"_You split the Red Sea for Moses."_

"**Yep."**

"_You're the father of Jesus."_

"**Affirmative."**

"_And created an entire religion just to destroy Rome?"_ This came out as more of a statement of disbelief than an actual question.

"**Well I did indirectly cause the deaths of a few Roman Emperors and caused the Gothic tribes of the north to go to war with the Romans, so it wasn't just creating a religion. But yes, I destroyed the Roman Empire."** He said proudly, like I'm supposed to be in awe at the destruction of an entire civilization.

"_Can I ask why?"_ I say feeling even more emotionally and mentally exhausted.

"**Just very personal reasons with all of Rome in general."**

"_Whatever. I give. Its completely insane to believe but with you I honestly don't doubt it."_

"**Well I am genius even by godly standards."** Adamos says and I can feel the god smirking in my head.

"_And what was that about you getting angry at Annabeth about crows?"_

"**Oh, that's actually simpler. You know how our dad made horses right?"** I nod. **"While dad made horses from seafoam and parts of the ocean, I made crows and ravens from the burnt sticks and leaves of our Aunt Hestia's hearth. I created them to help with stealing precious treasures and weapons from the titan army during the titanomachy, and they've been my sacred animals ever since "**

"_You used them to steal things?"_

"**Yeah. Why do you think that they are so attracted to shiny objects?" **I didn't respond back but in a way, it did make sense. I've seen plenty of crows attracted to shiny things.

"_Is there any thing else that you should mention so I don't have to ask later?"_

"**Only two other things that come to mind."**

"_And what would those be?"_

"**I did have only two other children. They were born like how Jesus was and the only other children that I ever had."**

"_So, who are these other nieces/nephews of mine?"_

"**King Arthur of Camelot and Joan of Arc."** Adamos sighs in fondness**. "They make me so proud."**

If I was drinking a glass of water, I would have done a spit take. The fact that my brother just so casually referred to some of histories most recognized figures as his kids was a bit shocking. I mean King Arthur of Camelot was a myth but Adamos just said that he was his son proves that he's real, and my nephew no less.

"_Alright tell me the last thing please before I suffer a mental breakdown." _

"**Would you freak out if I said that I also created the first sea dragons?"**

"I… I think that's enough information for today." I say aloud. "I need something to eat…or drink or, something, I don't know."

"**Alright Percy. I think your right about that. Too much all at once can be a bad thing."**

Nodding in agreement I pick myself up off the sandy beach and make my way back to the cabins with both Minotaur horns. Luckily for me now was the time that the conch for the start of dinner sounded. I seriously needed something to eat after all of today.

**A/N: AND SCENE. All right everyone that's a wrap. I hope no ones crossed about me using Adamos as reason for many things in the bible and such. I mean in the PJO series the gods are pulling the strings on many things in the world. Adamos may be banished from the Greek pantheon but that doesn't mean he's gonna sit around and do nothing. No! he's just as smart and clever as Athena if not more so and he's founded a new religion so as to prevent any chance of him fading. And for those that are wondering God is not his Roman form or any other of the religious names that God goes by. For him they are like alias like how Apollo goes by Fred sometimes. I never want Adamos to be like those stories where Percy is a god and he's super humble to everyone because that's boring. He's mischievous, a bit prideful, and snarky, but is more understanding and compassionate with mortals than other gods. Maybe a bit like RDJ's Tony Stark. I'm thinking of calling his roman form if he had one Caldeus, like the Caldera volcanoes. (Look them up) Again please write reviews. They help me figure out what I need to do better in writing my stories. Just no unnecessary flaming, if you've ever taken a high school to college level writing course you should know about constructive criticism. I want to thank the reviewers that take the time to write the reviews. You guys are fan-tucking-fastic.' See you all next time on another episode of Camp Stabsalot.**

Shout out to BoredPerson86 for writing a review an hour after I just finished writing this chapter.


	8. Chapter 7:Meeting Family

Percy speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

**Adamos in Percy's head**

_**Adamos speaking through Percy**_

**All characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 7**

Meeting Family

(Percy P.O.V)

After that major bomb drop about my newly discovered family, I left the beach heading back to the cabins. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. Back at the cabins all of the campers were lined up outside each of their cabins in some kind of order.

"Percy, jump in the back of the line and we can start heading for dinner." Luke shouted from the start of the line in front of cabin eleven.

Not really knowing how things went around here I just made my way to the back of the line. I noticed the at many of the kids from cabin eleven had the same feature: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, and mischievous smiles while others looked completely different from each other.

"**Those are Hermes's kids. They all have shifty looks, which reminds me, we need to set up some anti-theft measures."** Adamos trails off.

After we were all in line, we marched off to the dining pavilion. Satyrs began heading in from the meadows, from the lake a bunch of naiads had come out, and from the forest, girls were coming out of the woodworks, literally. Overall there were maybe over a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a couple dozen assorted nymphs and naiads all coming for dinner.

The pavilion was surrounded by large marble columns that held torches, only increasing the ancient Greek aesthetic. In the center of the dining area was a large bronze brazier that held a flame that was reaching at least six feet high. Each cabin seemed to have their own table, as there were four empty tables like the number of empty cabins at camp. Cabin eleven's table on the other hand was so overly crowded that I was hanging off the edge by a cheek.

I noticed Grover and some other satyrs sitting at table twelve with Mr. D and two plump blonde boys that resembled the wine god. Chiron was standing off to the side of a large picnic table that sat at the head of the pavilion, to big to sit down at the table. Annabeth was at table six with a bunch of serious looking athletic kids, they all resembled each other with blonde hair and gray eyes. Clarisse sat behind me at table five, currently dry after todays events, belching and arm wrestling with her siblings.

Once it seemed that everyone had arrived Chiron drew their attention to the head table. Pounding his hoof on the floor of the pavilion till everyone was quiet. He raised his glass up. "To the gods!" Which everyone, minus Mr. D, responded back with equal enthusiasm.

Wood nymphs then came to each table, carrying platters of food. There were a variety of different fruits, cheeses, bread, vegetables, meats, but most importantly was that they had barbeque! They only thing that seemed to be missing was that none of the nymphs were carrying anything drink related. Well unless you wanted to drink straight gravy but that was a no for me.

"**The goblet in front of you seems to have an enchantment on it to summon drinks. Try asking it for something to drink."**

Looking at the golden cup in front of me half expecting it to be a trick, but after all I've seen today, I wasn't skeptical. "Uh… cherry coke?" The glass then began to fill with the fizzy soft drink. Then I got an idea, "Blue cherry coke." And it turned cobalt blue. I took a sip and relished the taste of the soda. I internally toasted to my mother hoping that she's all right, and with Adamos's help I would get her back.

"Here you go Percy." Luke said from my right, handing me the platter of brisket that I may or may not have been eyeing for the last few minutes. I was taking a rather generous amount—or selfish amount—and was about to take a bite when I saw everyone taking their plates towards the brazier in the center of the pavilion.

"_Uh, what are they doing?"_ I ask.

"**I believe they are making sacrifices to the gods."**

"_I thought that they were supposed to sacrifice animal bones and hides and stuff like that? There was that whole myth about Zeus being tricked by Prometheus." _I think.

"**Well look at you remembering your myths. As your teacher I must say that I am proud that your learning."** Adamos said with a fake sniffle. I resisted the urge to physically roll my eyes at his dramatics. **"Any ways I think as times changed so did what qualifies as a sacrifice if I had to guess. I haven't received a sacrifice in many millennia, so this is just an educated guess."**

"_Well, when in Rome, or Greece I guess?"_ I say as I stand and make my way over to the brazier. As I make my way over, I saw the other campers taking portions of their meals and scooping them into the fire.

Luke murmured into my ear, "Burnt offerings to the gods. They like the smell."

"The smell? You're kidding?"

"**It actually does smell good." **Adamos filled in.

Luke however just gave me a look that said to take this seriously before he stepped up to the fire and scooped some food in. "To Hermes."

Then it was my turn. I didn't really know who to sacrifice to. All of the gods? Just dad? I wasn't really sure how to do this, then a thought came. I scooped some of my food into the fire and made a silent prayer. _"To Adamos."_

Almost immediately a smell that seemed to come from the brazier entered my nose. It didn't smell like burning food at all. It smelled like freshly baked cookies and brownies, grilled steak, and a bunch of other delicious foods. It had to be one of the greatest things I've ever smelt before. Then I was hit with a noticeable boost in energy and I felt far less exhausted physically and mentally.

"**You didn't have to do that Percy."**

"_Why not? You're a god too right. You said that no ones sacrificed to you in a long time because no one remembers you. Besides I'd rather sacrifice to the god I know rather than a bunch of strangers."_

"**Thanks Percy. That…That actually means a lot to me."**

With a small smile and an internal feeling of gratitude that I knew wasn't mine, I made my way back to the table for cabin eleven and started to eat. Luke chose to sit next to me at the table.

"I stole you a sleeping bag and some toiletries from the camp store. I left them in the cabin for you since you didn't seem to have arrived with anything." He said.

"Oh. Thanks, I completely forgot about that." I said just realizing.

"It's no problem. It's your first day, and they can be a little tough, and that's usually how it is for everyone." He says in between bites, but it was the slight tone of bitterness that surprised me.

"So, your dads Hermes?" I said trying to change the subject. It seemed to work as the tension around Luke seemed to lessen, though I didn't know if it was a good or bad thing.

"Yeah that's him, Hermes, god of messengers, medicine, travelers, merchants, thieves. Anyone who uses the roads really. That's why there are so many campers in cabin eleven. He takes in any unclaimed nobodies." He said gripping his fork tightly.

This seemed to be an uncomfortable topic for him, so I figured he didn't really mean it when he called me and the other campers' nobodies.

Luke turned to me and put on a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it Percy. The campers here are mostly good people. We are family after all, we gotta take care of each other."

"**Percy I'm getting a weird feeling from this kid." **Adamos said with a critical tone.

"_I don't know, maybe he's just stressing about something." _I reason.

"**Still—"** Adamos says suspiciously.

"_He seems like a good guy. I mean he got us toiletries and a sleeping bag, and he's the only one so far that's actually made me feel welcome."_ I say cutting him off.

He sighs, **"Alright Percy. It's ok to give someone a chance, but never give them a chance at your back." **Adamos says in a warning tone.

"_Fine."_ I go back to eating my food, not really knowing what he meant.

"So earlier Annabeth kept calling me 'the one'. Would you happen to know what that's about?" I ask. Adamos said that I'm supposed to be a part of something important in the future, but I was wondering how she knew.

"I hate prophecies."

"Excuse me?" I ask with a raised brow.

Luke absent mindedly reaches to touch the scar on his face. "Let's just say that I went on a quest a few years ago and screwed things up for everyone at camp, since then Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to go out and see the world. She kept asking Chiron about going on a quest until he caved and told her that she was apart of a prophecy and wasn't meant to go on a quest until someone special came along. Now she thinks that any new person that comes across the boundary is that special person, its been years since then though so I wouldn't worry."

The conversation with Luke died off quickly after. He seemed like a good guy. He was friendly and welcoming to all of the campers in cabin eleven and me when I arrived, but something in the back of my mind was setting off alarms. I figured it was just Adamos trying to warn me further.

After everyone was finished eating Chiron began stomping his hoof on the marble floors once again to get everyone's attention. Mr. D just got up with a huge sigh.

"Yes, I suppose I should say hello to all you brats. Well hello. Chiron, our activities director, says that the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five currently holds the laurels" Mr. D said dismissively. At this the campers at the Ares table cheered. "Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congrats. Also, I should welcome a new camper. Peter Johnson."

Chiron just murmured something into his ear.

"Err, Percy Jackson, sorry," Though he didn't sound the least bit apologetic, he actually made it sound like a chore. "That's right. Hooray and all that. Now get going to your sing along or whatever. I'm going to bed." He murmured out the last part. Everyone cheered before heading down to the amphitheater.

"**Alright we can use now to get away from everyone. Tell Chiron that you aren't feeling like going to the sing along." **

"_Alright but what about curfew? We can't stay out or people will notice."_

"**Leave it to me. Now go."**

Hanging back at the table until after all of the campers have left, I got up and approach Chiron.

"Percy! What seems to be the problem? All of the others have already made their way to the amphitheater, if you don't hurry there won't be any materials left for smores." He turns to me with a smile.

"Actually Chiron I wasn't feeling up to singing. I think I just need some time to process today." I half lie. Today really has been long.

Chiron takes a moment to look me over, like he was trying to sense any lies, before he nods. "As you wish Percy. I do hope that you feel better tomorrow. I know it takes some getting used to things but that doesn't mean that you still can't enjoy the activities, I believe that trying them always helps ease the new campers in." He says before trotting off to the amphitheater, leaving me in the pavilion.

"_So what do we do now?"_ I ask.

"**Now? Now I'm in control," **Adamos says before I let him take control. **"I'm going to introduce you to family."** He says before turning around and heading the brazier.

"_Who are we meeting?" _I ask curiously.

"**Our aunt."** Adamos says not giving anymore details. He said our so that meant that this was some one from our dad's side of the family. This was a goddess that we were going to meet and the second immortal being that I'm meeting today.

Adamos just makes his way over to the burning brazier before stopping in front of a small eight-year-old girl, she had dark brown hair that framed her face in ringlets, warm brown eyes that soothed the soul, and a soft tanned skin. Her outfit just consisted of modest brown robes and a shawl. She was absently poking at the coals in the fire pit with a long poker.

"_**Do you mind if I sit here with you?"**_ Adamos asks the small girl. For her part she seemed a bit surprised at the conversation before composing herself.

"No not at all. Please sit." She says in a voice that sounds melodic and calming.

Adamos sits near her at the foot of the brazier, keeping a foot of distance between us. _**"So, what are you doing here by yourself? Shouldn't you be singing with the campers?"**_ He asks.

"I could ask you the same thing." She says back.

"_**Touché." **_

The small girl smiles. "But to answer your question. No, I don't need to go, I'm content with watching and tending to the fires."

"_**Really?"**_ Adamos says with a raised brow. _**"Surely it must get lonely by yourself?"**_

"It can at times, but it makes me happy." She says, then turns to look Adamos in the eyes. "But what brings you to the hearth?"

"_**Not much. Just need to sort some things out in my head with all that's gone on today."**_ He says, looking out into the night sky. _**"Although the first question that comes to mind is what's a goddess such as yourself doing here? Wouldn't you rather be at the hearth on Olympus Lady Hestia?"**_ Adamos turns back to her and gives her a smirk.

Her features stay schooled. The only indication of her surprise is the barely noticeable widening of her eyes before she gives my resident god a small smile. "So, you know who I am. I must say not many mortals notice me let alone know my name."

"_**Yeah well, I'll have you know I'm far more perceptive than any mortal. It tends to help when finding any worthwhile secrets and gossip"**_ He says.

"Oh really?" She raises a brow, "And what secrets would those be?" Hestia says with bits of amusement.

"_**Well Chiron seems to have a minor addiction to chocolate."**_ Adamos rubs his chin and looks off in no particular direction. _**"And Mr. D seems to use cabin inspections as an excuse to spend time with his sons despite the ancient laws, considering he went to 'inspect' only their cabin earlier today. As well as the blonde princess trying to eavesdrop on our conversation." **_He whispers that last part into her ear.

Hestia covers her mouth with her hand only to fail to suppress her giggles. "My you are the observant one. But how did you know she was there?"

"_**Oh, you know I just saw her hang behind the group and break off once she thought she was far enough away, and she's not exactly the stealthiest when walking through the woods. There's only so many times the bushes can rustle before you know somethings there. But if you wouldn't mind id rather keep this conversation private."**_ Adamos then snaps his fingers and mumbles something so fast that Hestia, even with her godly hearing, couldn't pick up. A few sparks of green erupt from the snap, and a moment later Annabeth walks out of the bushes near the pavilion, with a baseball cap in her hand, and marches towards the amphitheater with a blank look on her face.

At this Hestia's eyes gain a critical look. "What did you do to her?" She and I say to Adamos at the same time though I say it in thought.

Adamos smirks, clearly pleased to have both of our full attention on him. _**"Oh, nothing really, just a little manipulation of the mist and a spell of my own design. Think of it as the Jedi mind trick, but you know, better. And no, there are no adverse effects to her, she's perfectly fine minus some memory loss of this conversation."**_

"A spell such as that seems to be rather well done. I wonder how a young demigod that only arrived today could know such a thing. I can tell that your reactions today were genuine when you were with Chiron, however now you act completely different. How is it you know such a thing?" Hestia says her eyes boring into Adamos. If I wasn't sharing headspace with him, I never would have known the bit of nervousness that Adamos was feeling. It was quite weird to be honest, feeling the normally confident and knowing god being nervous under the gaze of an eight-year-old goddess, but for his credit Adamos never visibly showed the nervousness.

"_**Oh I know many things Hestia,"**_ he smirks, _**"I know that the sun chariot was impounded eight times in the last twenty years, that the war god once put on drag to see if he was pretty enough to start a war like Helen of Troy, that a certain silver eyed huntress can't sleep without cuddling with her pillows, or how about that once a year, on the same day, at the same time, you set up two cups of tea for yourself inside your temple on Olympus but never drink the second cup." **_

At each piece of information Hestia's eyes widen more and more, and her body tenses. "H-how do you know all of this."

"_**I told you not much goes by without me noticing, however the better question is how do you know about all that. Unless of course you've been peeking into a certain book that you keep with you at all times." **_Adamos continues to playfully smirk at the goddess.

Hestia instinctively reaches for a spot near her left hip, hidden by the robes that cover her small frame in its entirety. After checking she breathes a small sigh of relief and whatever it was apparently still was there. Her eyes however never left Adamos. The hand that was still holding the poker tightened around the long piece of metal. "I must warn you, normally I abhor conflict, but this book was left to me by someone I love and care for dearly so that no one would abuse it. I won't let anyone have it, even if I have to resort to drastic means to keep it so." Hestia says, her voice filled with conviction and her warm brown eyes were now ablaze like a raging fire.

Adamos's smirk just turns into a full-blown grin._** "And that my dear auntie, is why I trusted you with it more than anyone else."**_ As he finished his sentence Adamos raised his arm forward, his hand in a grasping pose like it was reaching for something. Out of Hestia's robes an unassuming book flew towards Adamos's outstretched hand. The cover was a deep blue and was lined with flowing dull grey designs that resembled a spear going through a shield with a dragon's head with a sword and arrow criss crossing behind the shield, but as soon as it touched Adamos's hand the cover seemed to glow to life. The previously dull grey designs radiated a glowing silver, the edges of the pages shimmered golden, and the book itself pulsed with power like a heart beating back to life.

Hestia just stood their silent, her mouth opening and closing but no words were coming out. She then shook her head to get over her shock before speaking. "T-that's not possible. The book's been dormant for millennia, it never responded to any one other than…" She trails of before coming to a realization. Hestia takes a cautious step towards Adamos, I myself was watching with rapt attention at what was going on.

"Is it you?" she asks in a soft voice. "are you really…" She doesn't finish as if she's afraid that she's wrong.

"_**Yes, Aunt Hestia. It's me I'm really here." **_He says, giving her a warm smile and holding his arms open in invitation. His eyes shifting, turning from the bright sea green of Percy's eyes to the oceanic blue, white-gold sands, and tropical green islands of Adamos's eyes.

Hestia immediately accepts. She switches her form from an eight-year-old to a beautiful woman in her early thirties in mid stride, engulfing us into a warm and soothing hug, her body being taller than my own. The sound of quiet sobbing could be heard in the silent night. The two immortals stayed like that for a while before breaking apart. Hestia looked a bit disheveled, tear tracks quite visible on her flawless face, and her eyes had a red ring around them from crying.

Then out of nowhere Hestia slaps Adamos so hard that it caused a 360-degree turn. I was quite surprised that we didn't get whiplash from that hit.

"Where were you?" She said angrily. "After what happened I was able to keep track of you for a few decades but then you just disappeared. We thought that something happened to you. The only way that I knew you were alive was because the book was still writing things down, though barely. We all feared that you had given up and faded after the first few centuries when the book stopped writing itself all together." She said in a voice filled with anger, sadness, and hurt as she pointed to the book in Adamos's hands. "You never gave us a sign that you were still alive." Her eyes threatening to once again break out in tears.

Adamos wrapped Hestia in another hug which she tried to struggle out of before giving in and fully embracing Adamos once again.

"_**I'm so sorry." **_He whispers into her ear. _**"I never meant to cause any of you so much grief."**_

"Just…tell me what happened." She whispers.

Adamos slowly brings them down to ground to sit. The god and goddess finally leaving their embrace, but their shoulders staying in contact._** "I tried to stay in Greece. I really did." **_ Adamos began. _**"But it just became worse. Everywhere I went monsters followed. A bounty was apparently placed in all of Greece for my head and my weapons. That's actually why I left you the book. I figured if any one could use it wisely it would be you."**_

"Well I appreciate the level of trust that you put in me to protect something so important, but that doesn't explain why your hiding here at camp. And if you don't tell me I'm sure that Hera, Athena and Artemis would love to have a word with you. That's not to mention your father." Hestia says playfully. Adamos however goes completely rigid and seems to break out in a cold sweat.

"_**Y-your n-not g-g-going to t-tell her. R-right?"**_ Adamos stutters nervously. _**"None of the Olympians can know I'm here! Especially her. It'll throw my entire plan out the window!"**_ Adamos pleads.

"Don't worry I won't if you tell me the reason you finally decided to show up now." She says as her tone turns serious

Adamos collects himself and takes a deep breath. "_**I spent the millennia wandering around the world. Meeting with other pantheons, doing tasks for them, keeping busy, learning many new things and making some new toys, getting into fights with a certain eastern monkey, a Viking with a hammer, and a falcon headed sore loser. You will be glad to know I still have never lost a duel and have managed to set up good relations with the other pantheons. Except the Mayans. Those guys were jerks."**_

"I hope you didn't just go around looking for fights. I know Hera and I raised you with better manners than that." Hestia says, looking him straight in the eyes.

"_**Of course not. Who do you take me for?"**_ She just raises a brow in response. _**"No. I didn't go around attacking people. They challenged ME. But after a while I began to see certain signs and I began to look into them."**_ He turns serious. _**"Aunt Hestia. The Crooked one is rising."**_

Hestia paled as the words left our mouth. "So, what does that mean for you?" Sher asks cautiously.

"_**I've…made a deal with the fates. No don't say another word and let me finish."**_ He cuts her off before she can say anything. _**"The things that they needed me to do have already happened. In return I asked them to let me interfere with the prophecy. To quote 'save and protect my family' as I put it."**_ Hestia smacks him on the arm multiple times._** "Ow ow OW. Jeez Auntie what was that for?"**_

"That was for doing something as stupid as making a deal with the fates. You could have died. Those three never ask for anything easy." She says then gives him a kiss on the cheek. Warmth and comfort flow through my body, it felt like my mom was here comforting me and telling me everything was all right. "And that was for being as great a man that I know you are."

"So are you going to introduce me to the young man that you seem to be inhabiting?" She asks.

"_**Oh! Right he's here." **_

"_You forgot about me!?" _

"**Cut me some slack! I haven't seen her in five thousand years."**

I feel Adamos's control give way. "Um…hello Lady Hestia." I say in the politest way possible. The only other gods I've met were Adamos and Mr. D. Adamos was relaxed with my responses, but Mr. D seemed to not like me at all.

"Oh please, Percy is it?" I nod in response. "There is no reason for formalities I haven't been an Olympian in a long time so there's no need for such, besides we are family. Also, out of any one Adamos chose you to help so that must mean he trusts you a great deal."

"It could just be because we're brothers." I say rubbing the back of my head. Adamos and I were both feeling embarrassed at her words.

"So, he's told you who your father is?" Again, I just nod. "Well I can say that he has never once let family restrict him from making the best choices. He's always tried to make the best choices that benefit those he cares for over all." I didn't have a response for that.

I felt Adamos turn away from the praise in my head. "You know you do look so much like your father. Almost exactly like he did when he was younger. I know he is proud of you Percy." This threw me for a loop. Here was my aunt that I just meet telling me about my dad. Adamos only told me bits and pieces from when was last with him. Hearing it from her just seemed to make everything feel more real.

"Now if you don't mind me asking. What are you planning on doing Adamos?" Hestia asks.

Adamos takes control again. _**"Well for now I'm going to start training Percy. Between weapons training and using his powers and some magic lessons on the side. If something has indeed happened on Olympus." **_Hestia nods in confirmation. _**"Then there might not be much time before we need to act."**_

"Well it's at least good to see that you're training Perseus. I know Hera and I didn't raise a freeloader." She says waving a finger.

"_**Come on Aunt Hestia. When have I ever been a freeloader?" **_Adamos whines childishly.

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"_**No. But if Uncle and Father have been fighting like I've seen and what I've heard is true than I'm going to need a few items from you. Please." **_He asks sincerely.

"Of course."

"_**Alright. First, we're going to need an enchanted backpack that can't be stolen from and has lots of extra space, and preservation enchantments. Second, I will be needing you to go to this location,"**_ He hands Hestia a piece of paper _**"Once your inside go to the second floor and grab me the book in the fourth row, third shelf up and fifth from the left. And finally, I need you to bring me some hearth fire."**_

"May I ask what you need all of this for?" She says, tilting her head inquisitively

_**"The backpack is for the Hermes cabin and anything that we come across that we can take with us. The book is a book of magic so that it can help teach him magic instead of me just lecturing. The hearth fire is for in case we are going to where I think we are going. If this is going to happen, they may use him as a scapegoat to make things work."**_ I had no idea who or what they were talking about, but Hestia nodded like she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Well, it will take me some time to get the other items but here," Hestia snaps her fingers and a backpack appears at the foot of the brazier. "The backpack has everything that you asked for it plus some supplies that I'm sure you'll need in the future. The pack will also return to you should you lose it, you just have to summon it."

Adamos picks the backpack up and puts it over his shoulder._** "Thank you for everything Aunt Hestia. I know that this is asking a lot, but it means so much to me that you did this." **_Adamos then gives the glowing book back to Hestia, which she puts back in her robes. _**"Please hang on to this for a little while longer."**_

"Think nothing of it. I'm just glad that our family has a chance at being whole again." Hestia says, "Should you ever need anything please, just ask." Then in a flash of fire Hestia disappears.

Adamos then turns and walks down the hill towards cabin eleven.

"_So that was our aunt."_

"Yup sweetest lady you'll ever meet. She is the picture book definition of the kindness."

"_She did seem nice."_ I say. _"So what was that about other pantheons?"_

**"Nothing that concerns us at the moment. Many of those pantheons are no longer on earth. Some have faded, others have just cut themselves off from the mortal world. The odds of us meeting anything from other mythologies are slim to none." ** Adamos explains.

_"But they did exist?" _I ask.

**"Yes, they did exist at one point. But you can't tell anyone else about this. It's one of the biggest secrets of the divine world. A secret the gods would kill for.****"**

_"Ok so no talking about it or death. Got it."_

Adamos just begins to pick up small rocks along the way to the cabin until he has seven stones. He enters the cabin and goes to the spot in the corner with a rolled up sleeping bag and a bag of toiletries.

"_So what are you going to do with those rocks?"_ I ask

"I am going to build us a decoy." He says as he pulls one of the minotaur horns that I had in my back pocket and begins to carve a bunch of symbols into the stones before setting them up in a line inside the sleeping bag. He then pricks my thumb and smears a bit of blood onto the head stone. A second later a sleeping Percy appears in the sleeping bag.

"_Wha—I don't—how?"_ I barely sputter out.

"Magic." He says doing jazz hands. "It's a simple decoy spell. It will last for about half a day. More than we need. We are going to use this time to train after everyone sleeps. Something big will happen and we are going to be dragged into it. It's best to get you prepared as much as possible till then."

"_What's going to happen?"_

"Nothing that you need to worry about because we won't be able to change whats already happened anyways. We just need to get you prepped."

"_So, what are we going to do?"_ I ask.

Adamos stands and puts his hands on his hips. "Now? Now we are going to the beach."

(Linebreak) (spinning bat signal-BananananNah)

"And now were at the beach." Adamos says to no one in general.

"_Uh—yeah we've been standing here for, like two minutes just looking at the waves."_ I say.

"Whatever. Just give me a moment and we'll start." Adamos says as he begins carving symbols into a few trees and boulders around the beach. The area that we were in was secluded from the rest of camp and would be missed entirely unless you already knew where to look.

"All right. Done." Adamos says putting the minotaur horn back in the backpack we brought. Adamos then begins muttering something to fast to comprehend and places his hand on the center of the largest boulder. A faint glow begins to spread around the area before fading away.**_ "All right the barrier is set up. Now no gods will be able to detect us while we are within the boundary."_** Then a stone man breaks free from a nearby boulder.

"_Gah!What is that?!" _

"That Percy is your sparring partner." He says with a smirk before carving a symbol on its forehead. The symbol was of a spear going through the middle of a shield with a dragon's head and a sword and arrow making an X behind the shield. The eyes glow a light blue color and a stone staff erupts from the ground and into its hands. It gets into a fighting stance, pointing the staff at my face. Adamos then give over control to me. I pull on the band on my arm and it turns into Adamos's spear.

"**You better watch out Perce this guy might be just a sparring golem, but I implanted a bit of my combat knowledge into it."**

"_So what does that mean for me?"_ I ask nervously.

"**Your fighting a being that doesn't tire, doesn't feel pain, and doesn't yield to any danger and has a bit of my skills and experience." **I gulp. **"In other words, I'm gonna break you." ** The golem dashes forward at great speed, I barely manage to block the over head strike with the shaft of the spear. **"Like a Kit-Kat bar."** Adamos says with a smirk.

"_This is gonna hurt."_ I think to myself.

(Time Skip)

I collapse on the sand exhausted. My muscles feel like they are being ripped apart, my lungs were on fire. I had been sparing with the golem for three hours. THREE HOURS! And I only managed to hit the stupid thing twice. Meanwhile my body was covered in bruises.

"**Well, you did pretty well Percy. And we only stopped for breaks six times."**

"I…Hate…You...So…Much." I gasp out.

"**Ah love you to buddy. Don't worry the physical stuff is over."**

"Yaaaaayyyy." I moan out.

"**Now we need to work on drawing out your powers as well as mine."**

"_How are we supposed to do that?"_ I mentally groan.

"**We're going to meditate. Underwater. At the bottom of the ocean."**

"_You do realize that I can't breathe underwater right?" _

Adamos sounds like he's straining to talk straight, but it isn't noticeable. **"Don't worry Percy I'm a god of the deep seas, I can let you breath underwater."**

"_All right. Just give me a moment. I can't really feel my everything."_

"**Don't worry. I got you."** The sand then begins to move down the beach to the water, taking me with it. **"All right Percy just continue to breathe, once we go under you'll be able to breathe like normal. Just close your eyes and breathe."**

I close my eyes and focus on breathing. I feel the sand moving beneath me and the waves lapping at my body. After a moment I feel my body rocking above the surface of the ocean before I slowly descend towards the ocean floor. My body begins to rapidly heal and I feel a burst of energy fill my body. A soothing and calming feeling fills my mind and all exhaustion leaves my mind. I begin to open my eyes under water and see that I can see perfectly clear beneath the water, heck my vision seemed to be clearer now than if it were a sunny day up on the surface.

"**Hey Percy."**

"_Hmm."_

"**I totally lied about helping you breathe under water." **

My eyes immediately open. I start screaming and thrashing trying to get to the surface. In my mind Adamos was just laughing like a madman. It takes me a moment before I calm down and realize that I'm breathing perfectly fine underwater.

"THE F# K" I shout out.

"**Ok ok. I'm good. I—I'm good. Wooh that was funny."**

_"NO IT WASN'T!"_

"**Come on Percy I wouldn't put you in danger if I didn't have a way to get you out safely."**

"_That STILL wasn't funny." _

"**Yes yes. Now time to get a meditating."**

"_Fine." _I say begrudgingly. I sit on the sea floor. _"So how are we supposed to do this."_

"**First your going to need to relax your body," **I follow his instructions. **"Then even out your breathing. After that you just need to find your core" **

I close my eyes and steady my breath. I sit there for a while listening to the sounds of the ocean. _"So, what exactly am I supposed to be finding?"_

"**Your core."**

"_And what does my core feel like?"_

"**Like what you did to that Clarisse girl. When you summoned the water in the bathroom. Something like that."**

I continue to sit there with my eyes closed trying to feel the water around me. My world goes black and I feel something in my gut. It feels like an orb of power, like a container the size of the Big House, and inside was a sea green light the size of a basketball. The container was mostly empty. Inside the small sea green light was pulsing. I reach out for it and feel the power from the light. I grasp the light as it reaches out, keeping a firm hold and spreading the light out to the edges of the container. I pull more and more, and the pull slowly becomes painful.

"**Keep pulling Percy. Grasp your power and spread it around." **Adamos instructs.

I keep pulling as Adamos instructs, the pain becoming so intense that it almost causes me to let go, until I feel a snap and I release the power. I look back to the container the light was the same size but it was now flowing and reaching out like the tide towards the edges of the container. I could feel my power being less restrained yet still weak. Like an underdeveloped muscle.

"**Ok Percy you opened up your well of power. This will grow with you and power up as you train with it. Like a muscle it will become stronger and easier to control with practice. Now you need to connect my well to yours."**

"_Your well?" _I ask as I internally look around.

"**Look up."**

As I look around the blackness that is my internal world, I look up for the first time. What I see makes my jaw drop. Up above me is a massive sphere of energy. It easily dwarfs my container by a ridiculously large margin. If my container was the size of the Big House than Adamos's was at least the size of two hundred story sphere, maybe bigger. It was a mixture of chaotic energy. Lightning, fire, lava, raging waters, destructive light, white flames, soft glowing golden light, darkness with streaks of silver, and chunks of massive earth were all melded together into a sphere. It was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

"**Percy your going to have to have to reach out and connect it to your power well."**

I slowly reach out towards the massive sphere but hesitate at the massive amounts energy flowing off of it. It felt barely restrained, as if it were moments away from destroying everything around it. A small amount reaches out, heading towards my direction. I hesitantly reach out then grasp the tether of energy and immediately a burst of pain shot up my arm causing me to release it.

"**Whats wrong? Why did you let go?"**

"_It hurt like hell when I grabbed it. Like what the hell was that about?"_

"**It's god levels of energy Percy. We gods are physical aspects of the world. Controlling that takes a lot of energy. Far more than the mortal body can handle. It's going to hurt but if you can set up a pathway from my power well to yours than I can give you access to my domains like if you were a demigod child of my own, stronger even since I'm here to supply and regulate my power."**

"_So long story short I just need to do it once?"_

"**Yes, that is technically what I'm saying."**

I take a deep breathe, preparing myself. _"All right. I'm ready." _I say then I reach out and grab the tether once again. I feel the pain coursing through my body. It felt like a billion bolts coursing through my body, my skin burning and peeling away. But I keep pulling on the tether of power before finally reaching my container. With one mighty pull I force the tether to come into contact with my container and a flash of light explodes, causing me to close my eyes to shield myself from the brightness.

I look back and see that where the tether of energy was, is now a golden rope that is seeping power into my container. The sea green light intermingling with the different energies from Adamos's well of power before settling. The sea green light was still the size of a basketball but had melded and become a collage of different energies. The sea green and oceanic blue of Adamos's power were the most prominent of the colored energies.

"_All right. That's done."_

"**Good. That was the quickest way to get give you access to my powers. We'll take a few days off so that the power can settle. Putting to much strain on your mortal soul and body by drawing from my powers could cause lots of damage, and possibly kill you."**

"_Rest and relaxation. Got it." _I say tiredly. Today really has been one of the longest in my life.

"**I think that it's time for you to go back to the cabin to sleep." **Adamos says softly.

"_Alright." _I yawn out.

I walk out form under water towards the beach. Slowly trudging, my exhaustion doubling as I leave the water, I pick up my backpack. I tiredly make my way back to cabin eleven, where I stealthily make my way over to my sleeping bag without waking anyone, moving the stones that make up the decoy, and sliding inside. As soon as my head hits the sleeping bags built in pillow I immediately fall asleep.

**(A/N) **

**Salutations true believers. All right so I know that I have huge gaps between my updates. So I'd like to say I'm sorta sorry. Between college starting and work its just been a bit chaotic. So I'm about 3/5ths sorry. I do actually read the reviews so when Andersonb said that my chapters are short I'd just say that I prefer to keep the chapters close to seven thousand words. I find that it's a decent size to read. Not too long and not short. Plus I wanted to flush out Adamos's relationship with the other Olympians. Another thing is the whole power wells thing. I always read POJ fanfics and the book they describe a shattering glass sound during Percy's meeting with the misery goddess(I forget her name). So I figured that they are containers that act as mortal limits for a demigods divine power. Percy is just the only one so far who has broken his demigodly limits. Also if you can find the TFS reference in the story, you get a cookie. Please review, it helps when making the story. Also this is still my first story so I apologize if it is kinda crappy or something.**


	9. Chapter 8: A Day at Camp

Percy speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

**Adamos's thoughts**

_**Adamos speaking through Percy**_

Any magic

**All characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 8**

The God of Destruction's Days at Camp

The next few days I settled into a sort of schedule at camp. Every day I'd wake up feeling tired from the physical training that Adamos puts me through. So far, I've just been fighting the sparring golem over and over again. Adamos hasn't actually taught me any techniques or skills with the spear, so far he's just had me spar for hours using the weapon in its spear form, half spear form, and short sword form and the proper stances.

(Flash back to one of the nights—probably a Monday)

I was on the beach and I'd been sparring with the golem for about an hour roughly. I had bruises all over my body courtesy of the golems stone pole. Adamos had been changing its length and style of fighting every now and then.

"Uh whats the point of this!? No matter what I do I can't beat the stupid thing. I've managed to hit it less than yesterday. I was able to kill the Minotaur so why can't I beat this hunk of rock!?" I yell out in frustration.

"**You're not supposed to beat it." **Adamos says evenly.

"Then what's the point!?"

"**The POINT Percy is to get you used to fighting. Right now you are a novice. Sure you have good instincts for battle but those can only get you so far in combat. And do you really think that you managed to kill the Minotaur by yourself? Even with the fury I've been there guiding you. The perfect stance for a spear, the throw, the swing of the sword. That was me helping to correct everything for your lack of skills. Compared to a normal mortal you'd be a more naturally gifted fighter and challenge to anyone other than a trained master. As for the other demigods here? You'd get your ass kicked in a duel, son of Poseidon or not."** Adamos says in a stern voice. Whenever we were training in secret Adamos seemed to get more authoritative, like a general or instructor, his voice seemed to make me listen to him at full attention. That didn't mean I wasn't a bit unruly every now and then.

"So your genius plan is to teach me to take a beating?" I say sarcastically.

"**My PLAN is to teach you how to survive against a superior opponent and to increase your physical abilities. Monsters will often be stronger, faster, or tougher than you. You can't just run at them and swing a weapon and hope that they die."**

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"**Take advantage of their weaknesses. Like Chiron said, 'your studies will apply to your life'. Myths aren't just interesting stories Percy. Learn to take the advantages given to you and train to live long enough that you can use them to kill your enemies."**

"All right." I pick up Adamos's spear that was sticking out of the ground and get into a stance.

"**Well I can at least teach you the proper stances for the different weapons." **He says with a sigh.

And this is how our late-night training went for the first few days at camp. Me trying to last just a bit longer against the golem and Adamos teaching me the basic stances and proper grips for wielding the size changing spear.

(End flashback)

The tiredness of training however was wiped away whenever I took a morning shower. I've even been waking up earlier to do so. Adamos says that now that we had opened up my well of power, I should have a bit more natural energy. Apparently, these were the divine abilities that we demigods inherited from our parents, and that each one of us has one. They vary between each demigod between how much power we inherited from our parents and what we inherited. Unlocking it is different for everybody because of who their parents are but Adamos explained that most are unlocked during periods of high stress. Opening it for me and setting a connection between our two wells actually put a lot of stress on my well so he's refrained from teaching me how to use my powers. Apparently if I tried to use my powers while my power well was still repairing itself there could be very bad consequences, but he would teach me some things later once it healed some more. For now, I just focused on the activities at camp. Adamos did join in in some of the activities, but other than that he would just play and sing to music in the back of my head at a decently low volume. He actually has a great singing voice.

After my morning shower I had a class about Ancient Greek with that girl Annabeth. Sometimes I would catch her giving me a glance, like she was trying to remember something before continuing on with the lesson. The Ancient Greek was actually not that hard to understand. Well it was a bit easier to understand as compared to English. My dyslexia not acting up nearly as much. Adamos through out the lesson often stayed quiet and just played a bunch of Three Days Grace, Green Day, and Linkin Park. Not bothering to say anything. After a few lessons I could read a few lines of the Iliad without getting to much of a headache. The rest of the day was filled with different activities around camp.

Next was an archery class with Chiron. Adamos was actually excited about this activity because he said that he always enjoyed using the bow. But let's just say that things took a weird turn.

(Flashback)

"All right class does everyone have their bows?" Chiron asked trotting in front of the line of campers. Each of us nodded, holding our respective bows in our hands. Adamos helped me pick out the right bow since the one I had chosen was to small for my body and the next one was to large for me to begin with.

Chiron walked back and forth between the campers offering instructions to us when we needed it. He payed more attention to me since I was the new guy. "Alright Percy move your legs here," Chiron says as he nudges my legs into a different stance with his own bow. "And keep your elbow up." He then moves back to give me more room and turns to walk down the line of campers. I was holding my stance like how Chiron instructed me but that's where things went downhill.

As soon as I released the string the arrow flew straight from my bow…

Directly behind me in the opposite direction from the target. The arrow flew straight and got caught in Chiron's tail. I'll tell you he can jump pretty high when he wants to. Immediately everyone's eyes were on me. Their looks were of ones of disbelief at what had happened.

"**I… I don't…How?" **Adamos was in complete disbelief.

"Uhm Percy would you mind explain what happened?" Chiron says as he eyed the arrow that was now tangled in his tail warily.

"I honestly don't know." I say looking at the bow in my hand. "I did what you told me and then shot the arrow. After that I honestly don't know."

"**Percy tell Chiron to take cover or something. I want to test something." **Adamos says inquisitively.

"Hey Chiron." I ask.

"Yes Percy?" Chiron says with a raised brow.

"Would you mind stepping back or take cover actually I want to try something." Chiron's eyes widen a bit with concern and panic before he hesitantly nods. He then trots off quickly to the shed at the corner of the archery range and hides behind the wooden building. The rest of the campers then decide that they also would rather not have an arrow impaled in them and hide with him.

"_So what are we doing?" _I ask Adamos.

"**I want you to, and hear me out, shoot the arrow like how you just did, but in the opposite direction of the target."**

"_That sounds stupid and dangerous."_ I think in exasperation.

"**You've already shot Chiron, and everyone's hiding so why not try again?"** Adamos says insistently.

I just shrug my shoulders because I know that if I don't do it then he's just gonna be annoying later. I set up my stance and nock the arrow in the string and draw it back. I aim in the complete opposite direction of the target. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Chiron and the other campers with extremely worried looks on their faces as they try to make themselves smaller targets behind the shed while still watching me. I take a breathe and remember to raise my elbow like Chiron told me. I release the arrow and it flies again in the opposite direction of where I'm aiming. I then hear a thunk behind me and gasps from Chiron and the campers. I turn around and my jaw drops at the sight.

A perfect bullseye.

My arrow flew and hit the target dead in the center. Everyone behind the shed were speechless. Their draws dropped as low as physically possible. I could feel that Adamos was also amazed at the outcome.

"**That's just-" **

"I don't even know."

"**Fascinating. I can't tell if your one of the best or worst archers in the world. There is like no in-between with you."**

"_You know I don't think that archery is for me."_ I think as the arm that is holding my bow drops to my side.

"**Yeah maybe I should take over during archery class."** I just nod in agreement as everyone else slowly walks over to look at my feat of skill—anti-skill—in archery. After that Chiron and the other campers maintained a fair distance away from me during class, even though Adamos took over for the rest of class and was shooting bullseyes and splitting arrows.

(Flashback end)

After archery class was foot racing. That wasn't exactly my best activity either. In the group I didn't finish last so that was good. Adamos's sparring training at night had really improved my endurance so I could run much faster and longer than I used to, but I still finished towards the back of the middle group. This didn't even take in to account the wood nymph instructors that left me in the dust. Adamos tried to reassure me that it was natural since the nymphs had been racing away from gods for most likely centuries. It still felt embarrassing to lose a foot race to a tree.

Wrestling was a bit better. Adamos was telling me about techniques that worked and other things. I wasn't outright winning against the other campers, but I wasn't a hopeless sparring dummy for them either. That is until I had to spar with Clarisse. She seemed to make it her personal goal to beat me into the mat. Clearly, she wasn't over the bathroom incident. The one-sided match went on for up to fifteen minutes until Adamos got tired of it and pulled a surprise German suplex on Clarisse that left her dizzy and lying on the mat for the rest of the class.

The metal work class not that good either. I tried to make a sword since it seemed to be an easy design. What came out was a lump of uneven metal that would barely qualify as a paperweight it was so bad. Adamos just laughed at my failed creation.

The only activity that I was good at by myself so far was canoeing. Cause that's what heroes are known for. Canoeing.

I could feel the other camper's eyes on me. I knew the senior campers an counselors were taking bets on who my godly parent was, but it seemed that I wasn't making it easy for them. I wasn't as naturally strong as the Ares kids, thanks to Adamos taking over archery I was considered one of the best in camp, even though all the campers were still scared I would accidentally hit them. I however wasn't that good of a musician or healer so that seemed to negate any thoughts of me being a child of Apollo. My 'sword' made it pretty clear that I wasn't a child of Hephaestus. I didn't care about fashion or make up, so I wasn't Aphrodite's son. I wasn't able to do anything with vine plants, even though Adamos says that with his powers I could make plants grow quickly but chose to restrain that power so as not to be mistaken for one of Dionysus's kids. I actually spent ten minutes thanking him for that. Luke tried to reassure me that I might be a child of Hermes, a jack of all trades of sorts among the demigods. I could tell that he was trying to make me feel better, but he was also at a loss. I wanted to tell them all that I was a son of Poseidon just to get them to stop staring at me at least, but Adamos insisted that I had to wait until dad claimed me or else people would never believe me.

During my free time in the afternoons Adamos had me go back to our secluded beach. When I asked what we were doing he said that we were starting our training with magic.

(Flashback)

"So what are we doing here?" I speak freely now that we are at the secluded beach, where I know no one can her me.

"**You are going to be learning how to use magic."**

"Seriously!?" I say as I get excited. I mean this was magic. "So am I gonna be like Harry Potter?"

"**NO!" **I flinch at the sudden yell. **"HARRY POTTER IS A CHEAP REPRESENTATION OF SORCERY! It's barely witchcraft if nothing else." **He huffs.

"Ok so don't try to do an expelliarmus." I say sheepishly.

"**Whatever."** Adamos just grumbles. **"The first thing that we need to learn about magic is where it comes from and how to draw it out and use it for spells."**

"Is it like my demi god powers?" I ask.

"**Yes actually. Good job. Magic comes from the same place as your demigod powers, the divinity in your blood or from me inhabiting your body. The difference is that while magic is many times more versatile with what you can do with it, but it can't compete with your demigod powers of the same nature. You understand?"**

"Yeah," I say nodding my head. "I can do more things with magic, but water magic or earth magic would be less efficient and powerful than if I used my demigod powers."

"**Got it in one Perce."**

"So how can I use magic. It sounds like it can be confused with my powers."

"**That's actually the easy part. Your demigod powers are like a figurative limb. You can, with practice, learn how to control it, feel it around you and use it. Magic on the other hand is if you flex the muscle of that limb and use words, symbols, and/or runes as well as imagining the appropriate phenomenon to shape your power into what you need. Magic essentially comes from the divine presence that we gods exude as well as the mystical nature in creatures of myth, so it would come from the same place as your powers. Therefore, mortals can't really use magic all that much, they aren't born with divine essence like demigods. They run a far greater risk at burning alive due to the divine energy in the spells. They'd have to either be a descendent of a god or spend just about all of their life around divine or mystical artifacts, absorbing the energy to be able to cast a spell." **Adamos explains.

I nod at the explanation. Though I barely got what he was saying. What I understood was that I could use magic because my dad was a god. Not really wanting him to lecture me again to explain it all over again, I'd had to sit through those during my time at Yancy already, I say. "So, what are we going to learn first?"

"**Well I know you have a hard time memorizing and applying things so if we are going to apply magic to your combat style, I think that it would be best to stick to simple and quick cast spells."**

"What are quick cast spells?" I ask.

**Well there are many different types of spells. Some that require lots of preparations and chants for powerful effects, and some like quick cast spells which can be used almost immediately and if skilled enough in rapid succession. The problem is that compared to other magics quick casts can only be used for a single effect, so they are much less versatile as compared to other spells."**

"Uhhh…could I get an example?" I ask, having lost track abit.

"**The best way to compare would be to cast a spell, I can show you if you let me take over." **Adamos says which I agree and let him take over.

"_**The best way maximize the magic's affect is to imagine what the spell will do. For a fire spell you should bring the image of fire into your mind. The next step is to use the power that's within you and draw it out. Some experienced sorcerers would be able to draw power, or mana as the mortals call it, from items that they had the magic stored in, but they generally aren't able to store large amounts, but it's much less dangerous.. Then you use the appropriate word or words of power to activate the spell, the more complex and powerful the spell the longer the chant and more complex the symbols get."**_

Adamos then turns to a lone rock that was jutting out of the ocean, it was at least sticking six feet out of the ocean and was four feet across. _**"I'll use that rock out there as a target. And I'll draw from your body's reserves so that you experience what it's like to use a spell."**_ Adamos raises his hand out towards the rock, with two fingers pointing forward.

_**IGNIUM**__**.**_ Adamos says. I feel a slight pull in my gut. Compared to when I had used my powers before it just felt a bit strained yet not at all painful as compared to using my demigod powers. A symbol appears in front of his fingers in midair, it was shaped like fire and had a letter that looked like a capital Y with a triangle directly in the middle of the letter. Immediately after, a ball of fire the size of a soft ball rockets from Adamos's fingers towards the rock. As it makes contact with the stone the fireball explodes causing the rock to become scorched. My body feels a bit of exhaustion. It was noticeable but only barely and could easily be ignored.

"_**That was a quick cast spell. It isn't really that strong as compared to other spells, but it does it's job and be cast multiple times without too much cost. Now I'll use a stronger spell to show you the difference."**_ Once again Adamos raises his hand at the rock once again.

_**IGNIUM TRI KO ENKAI NAUL MAL TO BARRET**__**.**_ As Adamos finishes his incantation I feel another pull in my gut, but this one was much more intense than before. It was almost like using my demigod powers. Three fire balls the size of basket balls rocket towards the rock. As soon as they make contact, they explode in great force. The rock was mostly blown away with less than half still sticking out of the ocean. My body then gets hit with a wave of exhaustion. As if I had run a full mile without slowing down.

"_**That was a mid-tier spell compared to a quick cast spell." **_Adamos explains. He was huffing a bit since he seemed to be drawing from my energy reserves rather than his own. _**"Magic can be classified in tiers: low class spells are the same tier as quick cast just more versatile, then mid class, high class, grand class, and finally god or world class magic."**_

"_What's the god and world class magic?"_

"_**They are spells that are intensely complex and take a lot of energy to cast, but the pay off is a spell that rivals an Olympian attack in terms of power. But you'll never be able to cast it. They are usually done as rituals with multiple mages contributing to pull it off. You'd need four high quality mage demigods to be able to meet the bare minimum, but none of the campers are mages."**_

"_So what spell are we going to learn, how to summon lightning, shoot lasers, make large explosions? _I ramble off, getting more excited.

"_**You are going to learn how to block."**_ I figuratively deflate at the sentence.

"_Seriously?"_

"_**Yes seriously. It might not be flashy like other spells but learning how to defend oneself is one of the most important things that a mage can learn."**_

"_But fireballs!" _I whine.

"_**But Percy!"**_ Adamos whines back mockingly. _**"No. Your just gonna have to suck it up and learn the protection spell first. I guarantee that it will be one of the most used spells that you'll ever know."**_

"_Fine I'll learn the stupid spell, but you have to teach me that fire ball spell later." _I say.

"_**Yeah yeah, now pay attention. I'm going to use the spell and Kevin is going to throw rocks against the shield."**_

"_Wait. Whose Kevin?"_

"_**Kevin's the golem Percy." **_Adamos rolls his eyes. _**"Do you see anyone else out here?"**_

"_No but since when did he become Kevin?"_

"_**The day he was created. Duh. Why do you ask such needless questions?"**_

"_Because sometimes you just don't tell me things and it's really annoying."_

"_**That sounds like a personal problem."**_

"_Just…tell me these things sooner please?"_

"_**Fine. Anyways the protections spell. The symbol for it is this," **_Adamos then begins to trace an upside down triangle that was missing half of its right side in the sand. _**"As for how to use it I find imagining something like a wall or shield works best." **_Adamos stands up and faces Kevin the golem. Like earlier he holds two fingers out, but this time in a swiping motion. "_**QUEN."**_ He says aloud, then the symbol traced on the ground materializes in front of us before turning into a golden force field that covered our whole body.

Kevin then starts throwing the stones at the barrier. The rocks continue to hit the barrier, one after the other. Slight clacks begin to form in the barrier before Kevin throws the twentieth and final rock with such speed that it was easily around 120 mph. It collided with the damaged barrier, bouncing off harmlessly before cracks spread around the barrier. A sound akin to shattering glass was heard and the barrier broke apart.

"_**All right Percy. You're going to be casting that spell almost constantly during magic practice till you can sustain it for at least a minute."**_

"_Will Kevin be throwing rocks at me?" _I ask worriedly. I wasn't looking forward to being hit with rocks when my spell fails to work.

"_**Not until later." **_

"_Great." _I say sarcastically. For the next hour I worked on casting the spell. For the first twenty minutes I wasn't even able to summon the symbol before I finally managed to get it for a brief moment. I kept doing this for the rest of the hour, with varying levels of success. Sometimes the spell completely failed, sometimes it worked for a few seconds, and couple times I put to much power in and overloaded the spell till it exploded violently though I was grateful that it didn't hurt me too much. This went on and occasionally Kevin would throw rocks that would completely shatter my shield after one or two throws, but I was managing to hold it longer each time.

Magic training left me tired and drained by the end of it. Oddly enough Kevin seemed to be incredibly supportive by bringing me refreshments and thumbs up every now and then. Now though I was confident that I could cast the spell six out of ten times that I cast it, not bad for a first day I thought inwardly. Now the next step was convincing Adamos to teach me some cooler spells.

(Flashback ended)

Despite the hard training in secret with Adamos and the eyes of the other campers watching me I was actually liking camp. On my second day since I woke up here Aunt Hestia came back with the things that Adamos asked for. In her hands was a small jar that contained a small flame, it seemed incredibly warm and comforting just to be near. The second item was a book. It was a very gaudy looking book, with 90's laser effects and a cartoon wizard wearing shades on the front. The title read 'Rad Spells for Cool Up and Coming Wizards '94 edition'. I actually thought that she was joking before she waved her hand over it and it transformed into an actual magic tome of spells that looked far more impressive than the 90's style text book that she came with. Adamos said it was supposed to draw attention away from the fact that I'm learning magic and to say it was a gift from Hestia, plus the book had some features that Adamos took from the book that Hestia safeguards. After we received the items Hestia left us in a flash of fire, but not without a hug and a kiss on the forehead. It was both comforting and embarrassing for both me and Adamos.

Now I was adding Aunt Hestia into my sacrifices. I notice the small smile that she has whenever I walk away from the brazier after sacrificing. The only real problem that I've been having was that Adamos seemed to be getting too excited about being at camp at times. Strange things had been happing around camp during the night after I go to sleep. Since I stay out later than anyone else, I know that it's got to be him and he doesn't deny it, he just laughed hysterically. In the span of two nights he's replaced the Aphrodite cabins makeup with horrid shades of yellow, green, purple, and other gaudy colors that don't match. Cursed the metal shops hammers to sound like those plastic ones that squeak when they hit things. Put a large plastic spider in front of the door of the Athena cabin, and I'll tell you that hearing them scream is a great way to wake up the entire camp. He gave the Apollo cabin an emo makeover and somehow bedazzled a bunch of satyrs horns and used super glue to make sure that they stuck. And the biggest prank that I still don't understand how he pulled was that he took just about all of the underwear from the Ares cabin, without them noticing mind you, and sewed them into a flag and hoisted it to the top of the flag pole at camp. The funny thing is that up until that point there had never been a flag pole at camp Half Blood. It just showed up one morning with the underwear flag waving in the morning breeze. Hestia actually had to tell him to stop after that and he hasn't really pulled a prank since, but he has been a bit moodier Other than her everyone else at the camp hadn't a clue how these odd events were happening.

(Line break)

On Thursday, three days since I woke up, I had my first sword fighting lesson. Luke was the instructor and the entirety of the Hermes cabin was attending. We started by doing some basic stabbing and slashing on some straw dummies in armor. Since I had been practicing with Adamos and Kevin for the past few nights I had at least this down. The only problem was that no blade that they had felt right in my hands. Adamos's spear was perfectly balanced in my hands and using it felt natural. But the swords here were either to heavy, light, short, or too long. Luke tried to help me find a sword but even he had given up on finding me a proper practice sword.

"_Why don't any of them feel right!?"_ I say internally. I was holding sword number eight, but it still didn't feel right.

"**It's because these were made here at camp. If we had a blade made in the forges of Atlantis for you it would feel well balanced in your hands."**

"_So I have to get a sword from Atlantis?" _

"**Not necessarily. I have a bunch of vaults hidden throughout the country with many weapons and artifacts that I've had to keep hidden from other gods and mortals. Most don't know that they exist, so if we get near one of those vaults, I'm sure we can find some suitable weapons for you."**

"_Why do you have them hidden away?"_

"**Many of the weapons are ones I've acquired from other pantheons, some are ones I've confiscated because they were to dangerous, others are ones that were lost to history that I recovered should I need them, and some were collaborative works between me and gods of other pantheons as well."**

"_How many of these vaults are there?"_

"**About thirty or so"**

"_Why do you have so many!?"_

"**Hey, some people collect stamps, I collect mythological items and knowledge of great power." **He says defensively.

"_Sure. Though I never took my brother as a hoarder." _ I say with a smirk while I try out sword number nine.

"**I am not a hoarder." **Adamos said offendedly. **"I'm an archivist, a researcher, a seeker of great knowledge and keeper of the some of the most dangerous items in existence."**

"_So, a hoarder with purpose then?" _I say with a smirk.

"**Just shut up. You'll never understand what I do." **He grumbles. **"I think that sword fourth from the left over there might work." **I just chuckle at his attempt to change the subject. It might be a bit immature, but he's been going Drill Sargent in my nightly training, so this was good payback.

After finding a sword that at least somewhat felt ok, I went to the class. Luke said that we were to break into pairs for sparring and had chosen to be my partner since this was my first class. "Good luck, Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years." One of the other campers told me. "Maybe he'll go easy on me?" I say but the camper just snorts.

"**I don't like this."** Adamos says skeptically. **"It would be better to stick you with someone at least around your skill level so that you actually stand a chance."**

I raise an eyebrow at the statement. _"And what about Kevin? He's way better than me and beats me up all the time?"_

"**I told you before, Kevin was made to teach you how to defend yourself against a superior opponent. He's meant to make you trust your instincts and get you into fighting shape while staying at a manageable level for you. Haven't you noticed that Kevin only uses simple techniques for his styles and no advanced moves?"**

I actually think back to the times I trained with the golem and realized he was right. He only used basic moves rather than anything out of my skill level. Hell, most of his sword moves were covered in the class earlier. _"Huh your right."_

I wasn't able to think more about this as I was now in front of Luke. He held a sword that was a bit longer than the one that I was using.

"Shield or not?" He asked

"Excuse me?" He just chuckled at my response. "I'm asking if you want to fight with shields or just swords." I feel my face flush a bit in embarrassment before I choose to only do swords. Adamos's spear could change to a short sword form so I had some experience with just a sword but none whatso ever with a shield.

Throughout the session Luke showed me thrusts, slashes and parries the hard way. With each swing or thrust of his sword I was getting even more bruised. He was actually better than Kevin because every time that I dodged or blocked, he would use some sort of move and immediately get past my guard. With Kevin I at least had a chance to hit back, but with Luke it was like I was just being used as a punching bag. Though he did try to teach me in his own way.

"Keep your guard up Percy," He'd say and then hit me in the ribs. "Not that high up!" After he hit me in the ribs. "All right lunge," He'd then parry my thrust and swing the blade close to my neck. "That's a pretty decent thrust. But you still need a lot of work." He said.

By the time he called for a break I was sweating through my shirt. I was seriously tired, Adamos on the other hand was seething in anger. He apparently didn't like how Luke was teaching me.

"**Little prick thinks that he can make fun of us does he. Give me controls so I can kick his second-rate ass." **Adamos growls in my head

"_You can't. It'll draw to much attention if I just outright beat him. And besides he's sorta teaching me and I can't have you dealing with my problem all the time, so I have to do this." _I try to reason with him.

After a few seconds he just sighs. **"Fine but I'm going to help you a bit. I think it's safe to use some of our powers. So I'm going to give you some of my war domain."** It wasn't what I wanted but it was a compromise, so I agree to it. I really just didn't want Adamos 'accidentally' stabbing Luke for those comments about my stance and techniques needing more work.

I made my way to the drinks cooler after most of the other campers began to clear out. I was feeling tired, so after a long drink I dumped the rest over my head. I knew the water would invigorate me, I've had Kevin dump me into the water at our beach a bunch of times when I collapsed from sparring and magic training. I immediately felt better. The water wasn't enough to heal my bruises, but it was enough to put the strength back in my body. Even the practice sword didn't feel so clunky like before.

"Okay everyone circle up!" Luke yelled. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

"**If he thinks he can humiliate you in front of everyone he's got another thing coming." **Adamos says heatedly.

"_Lets just deal with it."_

Everyone from the Hermes cabin gathered around. They all had suppressed smiles. I figured that this had to be some sort of initiation that everyone went through, and they couldn't wait to see Luke use me like one of those straw dummies. He told everyone about the disarming technique that he was going to be showing. How to twist the blade in a way that made your opponent drop their sword. He used the move on my in slow motion and my sword dropped out of my hand.

"I must stress that his move is difficult so no laughing at Percy." He said as I retrieved my sword. "We are going to keep sparring till one of us gets it. Ready Percy?" He asks. I nod in response.

Immediately Luke came at me faster than before. I felt Adamos let some of his war and weapons domain activate in me. Everything around me began to slow down just a bit, my nerves and senses felt supercharged with lightning and my sight became sharper. I could see the different muscles working and moving in Luke's body as I kept him from getting to my hilt. I could see all of the different moves that Luke was going to do and I my body responded with the most efficient and natural counter. I then stepped forward and trust at Luke and he easily deflected the attack, but something changed as his eyes narrowed, and he began pressing more.

I was beginning to tire out. Even though Adamos was giving me the skills to defend against Luke the energy boost I got from the water was beginning to wear off. Then Luke made a mistake. The last move that he did left him in a vulnerable spot that was a perfect chance to try to disarming move. Adamos sent a feeling of agreement and I went for it.

My blade hit the base of his sword, and with a twist downward, Luke's sword clattered to the ground. The tip of my blade was pointed at his unprotected chest. Everyone in the arena that was watching went silent. I just lowered my sword and began taking deep breathes, trying to rest up a bit. Luke broke out into a grin "By the gods Percy that was great, you have to show me that again."

"_I don't think that I have the energy to do that again." _I mentally say.

"**Yeah, a twelve-year-old fighting an eighteen-year-old, such a fair match up." **Adamos said sarcastically in my head.

I tried to deny Luke, but he didn't relent, and I found myself in a combat stance once again. This time though I only lasted about ten seconds before my sword skittered across the floor. My body was completely sore at that point. After a long pause a camper just shouted, "Beginners luck?" Luke just looked at me with a different gleam in his eyes. He just mumbled a barely audible "Maybe…" before going back to the lesson.

(Line break)

It was Friday afternoon and I was sitting with Grover on the pier, resting after almost dyeing from the rock wall. Adamos, not liking Grover's presence, just retreated to the back of my mind and began playing guitar and singing to rock music. Grover got to the top no problem due to his goat legs, but I was almost encased in lava. My shirt had many scorch marks and holes in it. We sat there for a while before I asked him how his conversation with Mr. D went. He just turned a sickly green color.

"Fine," he said, "Just great."

"So, your careers still on track?"

"Chiron told you I wanted a searcher's license?" He said nervously.

"No actually," I had no clue what a searcher does. But the look on Grover's face squashed my desire to ask more. "He just said that you have big plans and that you needed credit for a keeper's assignment. So how did it go?"

Grover just looed out over the water. "Mr. D just suspended my judgement. He said that I didn't actually succeed or fail. Just that our fates are still tied together. If you got a quest and we came back alive then he'd consider the mission complete."

My spirits lifted. I was supposed to do something big soon, so if it was a quest then I could bring Grover with me. "Well that's not so bad, right?"

"Blaa-ha-ha! He might as well have transferred me to stable cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest are virtually none. Even so why would you want me along?" Adamos just snorted in amusement. I made sure he felt my disapproval at that.

"Of course I'd want you along." Grover just seemed to get more depressed. I bit my lip in frustration then made up my mind. "Grover, I think that your chance might come soon." He just gave me an incredulous look, like he was trying to debate if I was just trying to lie to make him feel better. "It's just a feeling I have, but I think that something is gonna come along and you'll get your chance." After a few moments he smiles. "Thanks Percy." After that we just fell int a casual conversation though in the back of my head Adamos was making his annoyance at my hinting to Grover about future events known. We talked till I brought up a question I've been meaning to ask.

"So why aren't there any kids of the big three?" Grover just shifted uncomfortably at the question.

"About sixty years ago, after World War II, the big three agreed that they wouldn't sire anymore heroes." I just raised an eyebrow at that, but Grover continued. "Their children were to powerful, they altered human history to much. World War II was basically a fight with Zeus and Poseidon's kids on one side and Hade's kids on the other. When Zeus and Poseidon won, they made Hades agree to an oath on the Styx to not have demigod children."

"Isn't that the most serious oath you can make?" Grover just nodded before his face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this eighties starlet with big hair—he just couldn't help himself. When his child was born—a little girl named Thalia—the river Styx took action at the broken oath. Zeus got off easy because he was a god, but he brought a terrible fate to his daughter."

My mouth was agape. "But that isn't fair. It wasn't her fault."

"Percy, children of the big three have powers greater than other half bloods. They have strong aura and a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out he released some of the underworlds worst monsters to hunt her. To get back at Zeus for breaking the oath that he started. A satyr was assigned as her keeper when she was twelve. He tried to escort her and a couple other half bloods to camp and almost made it. They got all the way to the top of the hill," He said as he pointed to the hill with the tree where I fought the minotaur. "All three kindly ones and a horde of hell hounds were after them. They were about to be over run when Thalia told the satyr to get over the hill while she held them off. The satyr tried to reason with her, but he couldn't change her mind. So, Thalia made her final stand alone."

As Grover said this an image flashed into my mind briefly. It was a lone young man standing at the top of a stair way in front of a gorgeous gate. A familiar looking spear that I couldn't place for some reason in one hand, a shield in the other, and a sword at the hip. He was wearing full armor and a helmet that covered his face, it looked like it had seen better days. The grand stair way was covered in splatters of red and a fine layer golden dust. I could hear countless roars and shouts, and the ground seemed to shake as it came closer, yet the soldier only seemed to raise his weapons in a ready stance as he seemed to wait for the unknown enemies to appear. He resolutely stood alone to defend those gates from all invaders. But as soon as it came the memory vanished in a blink.

Grover's voice broke me from my thoughts at the random scene. "As she died her father took pity on her and turned her into a pine tree. Now her spirit protects the borders. That's why it's called Half Blood hill."

I stared at the tree on top of the hill. The story made me feel hollow inside. A girl my age fought an army of monsters to save her friends and sacrificed herself. Next to that my victory over the minotaur was seeming less impressive by the second.

"**Don't think like that Percy. You're not her so you shouldn't compare yourself."**

"_But she was a child of the big three Like me and look at what happened to her. She saved her friends from an army and I got my mom taken by who knows. If she couldn't how can I do this."_

"**Because you have me. I'm here with you every step of the way, and I'm going to make sure you're one of the greatest heroes ever, so that you're strong enough that you can protect them yourself."**

"_Do you promise?" _

"**I swear to the Styx Percy that I will be here for you till the end of this entire prophecy." **Adamos said with a resolute voice. Thunder was heard in the distance and Grover looked in the direction that it came from. I however was speechless. Adamos just said a sacred oath to help me till the end.

After that we just fell into a silence until dinner.

(Line break)

There seemed to be more excitement than usual, then I remember it was capture the flag today. When all the sacrifices were done, and the plates were put away a conch horn sounded, and we all stood. Annabeth and two of her siblings came running in holding a large glittering grey banner that had an owl on top of an olive branch.

From the opposite side came Clarisse and her siblings holding a blood red banner of the same size, but with a spear going through a boars head.

I turned to Luke "Those are the flags?" I yelled over the noise. "Yeah." He yelled back.

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"

"Not always but often."

"So, what happens when another cabin gets the flag? Do you repaint it?"

He just turned to me and smirked. "Your just gonna have to see for yourself."

"So whose side are we on?" I ask. He just gave me a sly look, but in the torch light mixed with his scar just gave him an evil look. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares, and you're going to help."

The teams were being announced. On the Athena side was the Apollo and Hermes cabins. There had apparently been a trade of chores and shower times to gain support. On the Ares side was the Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus cabins. Out of them I was only really worried about the Hephaestus cabin, which was made of the four biggest and burliest looking kids I'd ever seen, and the Ares cabin, who were probably the meanest and ugliest kids in the country.

Chiron stamped his hoof on the marble floor, gaining everyone's attention. "Heroes!" he announced. "You all know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not gagged and bound. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battle field medic. Now that that's been said. Arm yourselves!" He spread his hands and the tables were suddenly covered in all sorts of equipment. Helmets, bronze swords, shields and other things.

"**Ok grab that, and that, and that looks like it fits—" **Adamos trails off. Mentally nudging me towards different armor and weapons that looked like they would fit me. My shield that I picked up was the size of a trash can lid and was a bit heavy but not enough for me to really mind. My sword had an ok balance but wasn't to great, and my armor fit very well. My helmet, like so many others, had a blue horse plume to signify my team. The Ares side had red plumes.

Annabeth yelled, "Blue team march forward." At this we all cheered and followed her down a path to the southern part of the forest. The red team headed to the opposite way.

I increased my pace and caught up to Annabeth. "Hey." I called out but she kept marching.

"So, what's the plan?" I ask. "You got any magic items you can loan me." Her hand drifted to her pocket, as if she thought I had just stolen from her.

"Just watch Clarisse's spear, you don't want that thing touching you. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"No, he didn't say anything." She just gave me a look like she didn't believe me.

She sighed. "Your on-border patrol just stand by the creek and make sure no red's cross. Leave the rest to me, Athena always has a plan." She then sped up, leaving me in the dust.

"**That's a pretty stupid saying. I remember many times me and Athena would argue over plans and tactics before coming up with something together. Good times." **He sighs wistfully.

"Whatever." I say not really listening to him. I was more annoyed at how Annabeth just casually shoved me to the side when she asked me to be on her team for capture the flag. I don't know if I'll ever understand her.

(Line break)

It was warm and sticky tonight. The woods were dark, with fireflies blinking around me. Annabeth had stationed me next to a creek while she and everyone else scattered elsewhere.

"_I feel like an idiot."_

"**Why?"**

"_Because I'm just standing in the middle of the forest in armor at night. I mean they're not really going to attack and hurt me, right?"_

"**I wouldn't put it past them, but what really worries me is that plan that the Annabeth girl put together. Putting you here alone just sounds like a set up."**

"_You don't really think that she would set me up? Right?" _I think in a slightly nervous tone at the thought.

At that moment a conch horn blew, and I heard loud whoops and hollers in the distance as well as metal clashing. A kid with a blue plume ran right by me and into the brush on the other side of the creek.

Then something put my senses into overdrive, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

"**Careful Percy, somethings not right. I just felt something off but I can't tell what, but it shouldn't be here." **I couldn't help but agree. I was keeping my head on a swivel, searching for the cause of the unnatural feeling and raised my shield. Then for some reason the presence seemed to leave.

"_Do you think its—"_ I begin to think before out of the brush on the other side of the creek come five Ares campers with Clarisse in the front shouting. "Cream the punk!"

She was holding a five-foot-long spear, its barbed tip flickering with a red light. Her siblings had only standard issue swords—not that it made me feel better.

They charged at me. There was no other campers around to help me. I could either run or take on half the Ares cabin. The first guy didn't really give me much choice as he swung his sword at me. I managed to sidestep the blow.

"_Adamos I could use some support."_

"**Well you have lovely sea green eyes and a nice and friendly personality." **He jokes.

"_ADAMOS!"_

"**Fine one bad ass coming up."** He says and I feel energy going into my body. It felt like yesterday when I sparred with Luke. Everything became more focused as I used everything that I knew and my instincts to dodge, parry and counter all their blows. My time training with Kevin really ingrained spatial awareness and the need to dodge into me. But these kids weren't as stupid as I thought when I saw that they were surrounding me to split up my attention. As I parried and ducked under two other strikes Clarisse stabbed at me with her spear. I raised my shield to deflect it, but a sharp pain raced up my arm and into my body. Then my arm went numb.

"_Her spear is freaking electric." _I curse in my head.

"**Just give me a second, I'm working on it." **Adamos says as he starts to heal my arm with his life powers, I begin to feel a little bit in my arm again.

One of the other Ares kids tried to strike me again. I couldn't dodge this. The electricity had caused my muscles to tense so I couldn't move properly.

"QUEN." I mutter and the gold symbol appears and covers me in a thin barrier. I internally grin because it actually worked. The blow hits the barrier and breaks it, but the attack is successfully blocked. Using this chance, I swipe my sword at his hand, knocking his blade away. I turn to face the others, trying to back out of the circle but I was hit in the side by Clarisse's spear. The electricity causing my other arm to go numb, before I get step kicked into the ground.

"Oh wow, I'm so scared of this guy." Clarisse mocks.

"The flag is that way." I say from the ground. Adamos was right, I wasn't ready to face the other demigods much less monsters.

"Yeah actually we don't care about the flag," A male Ares camper said. "We just want to get back at the guy who made our cabin look stupid."

I just look at for a moment before my mouth decides to get me into more trouble. "You already do that without my help."

Two of them march forward towards me. I was feeling ok again because Adamos had just finished healing me from the electricity. I back up to the creek and feel the water behind me and I begin to hatch a plan. Slowly I pull the water out of the creek and soak it deep into the ground, turning it muddy. The Ares campers don't seem to notice.

"**A good plan, turning the battle field in your favor."**

I raise my sword and shield, ready to fight but Clarisse moved much faster than I thought possible for some one her size. Her spear glanced off my armor as I moved to dodge, but it still left a small cut in the chest piece. If I hadn't had the armor or dodged the damage could have been fatal, but the electricity still went into effect and left me stunned. One of the other Ares kids used this and made a large cut on my arm with their sword. Blood was now flowing freely from the wound.

"What happened to no maiming." I ask incredulously.

"Whoops, looks like I won't get any dessert for a few months." He said with a shrug. He then pushed me into the creek.

The water filled me with energy. It mixed with Adamos's combat powers made me feel unstoppable.

"**Come on Percy. Let's kick their asses."** Adamos says eagerly as he once again floods me with power to enhance my muscles a bit more. As well as power from his earth domain. Once I step out of the creek the power doesn't leave me, it felt like I was now being powered by the very presence of the earth and nature around me. I use Adamos's earth powers and cause the mud to shift under them, throwing them off balance in the slippery substance. I however had no such problem. I could see them moving slower so I sprinted towards the closest guy and used the flat of my blade to hit him upside the head and knocked his helmet clean off. He crumpled like a sack of potatoes. Two others seemed to regain some balance and charged at me.

I ducked under a slash and then used my shield to uppercut them and turned on my heel to do a backhanded slash towards the second guy, knocking his sword away, which is followed by a cross to the side of the head with my shield. They both collapsed to the ground.

The fourth guy seemed to be nervous, but Clarisse began jabbing at me with her spear repeatedly. I had learned my lesson and only dodged the attacks, but with a little surge of power that I felt come from Adamos, Clarisse seemed to 'miraculously' slip in the mud again and over extended her thrust. Internally smirking, I catch the shaft between my sword and shield and snap it in half.

"Ah my spear!" Clarisse screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"

Before she could say more, I hit her between the eyes with the butt of my sword. The last Ares guy seemed to have retreated while I dealt with Clarisse. Then I felt something, I was still tapped into Adamos's earth powers, so I felt something shifting on the ground behind a tree behind me. Thinking it was the other Ares camper I act on reflex and adrenaline and spin around hurling my shield Captain America style at the tree. Due to the extra strength from the water and Adamos's powers the shield flies straight and hits the tree with enough force that it embeds itself deep into the bark.

A girl's shriek is heard as something invisible lands to the side of the tree as Annabeth then blinks into view, a yankees cap on the ground next to her.

"What the Hades is wrong with you! You could have taken my head off!" She yells.

I however didn't reply and glare at her. "You set me up. You put me here knowing that Clarisse would come after me, while you sent some one else to get the flag!" I snapped at her.

At that I hear cheering behind me. As I turn, I see Luke running across the creek with a red banner that then changes to a silver color with a golden caduceus on it. A conch then signals that the game was over and that we had won. Luke was then lifted up by the Hermes cabin and hoisted around.

"**She seems to have a crush on him, and we were the Ares kids targets…" **Adamos says putting the pieces together. Slowly I begin to see the whole picture.

"You used me as bait to draw the Ares kids away. Then sent Luke in to take the flag for the glory. Then you would use your position as the one who made the plan to share the glory with him. You set me up so for a stupid CRUSH!?" I practically scream as my voice gets angrier and louder with each word.

"**The plan worked no doubt about it but it was a stupid plan nonetheless. Plans like that are how you lose wars and the trust of your soldiers. I've seen general put to death for such asinine plans."** Adamos growls in my head, he was disgusted by about the situation.

She just stood up a gave me a glare, but then just shrugged. "It worked didn't it. I told you, Athena always has a plan."

"And what if I had been critically hurt or something irreversible happened?" I said with a cold tone.

"Then I would have stepped in to save you." She said evenly. Then she looked at my analytically. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" I said, my tone still icy.

"Your arm, its healed." She said while looking me over. "Percy can you—" But she was cut off by a low growl.

The hairs on my neck rise up and I instinctively get into a defensive stance. A howl rips through the forest. All of the cheering stops. Chiron shouts something in Ancient Greek that my mind translates to "Stand ready! My bow!" Annabeth drew her sword.

A black hound the size of a rhino on a large pile of rocks appears, its teeth like knives and its hate filled red eyes that were locked on me. It then jumped from the rocks towards me. I was the first to move as I shove Annabeth out of the way of the large black mass.

"QUEN!" I shout while the hound flies towards me at incredible speeds. I raise my sword up so that it lands on top of it and hope that my spell holds up against the pounce as it was to late for me to move out of the way. I can feel Adamos pouring power into my spell to strengthen it.

The large beast lands on my bronze sword, but its massive body and momentum causing it to land on me and knock me to the ground. The massive impact shatters the protection spell but leaves me unharmed from it. The beast then tries to bite at my neck and face, but I hold the sword up, keeping it away. This however didn't stop its claws from tearing away at my armor and slashing at my chest and stomach. I cry out in pain but hear multiple thwack sounds and the monster falls off of me, looking like a pin cushion.

Everyone began to gather around. "Di Immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the fields of punishment. They're not supposed to be here."

"Someone must have summoned it." Chiron said grimly. "Someone inside camp." Luke then walks over, the banner in his hand completely forgotten.

Clarisse yelled, "Its Percy's fault! He summoned it!"

"Quiet child!" Chiron barks. He watches as the hell hound melts into the ground in a liquid shadow.

"**Come on Percy, keep it together. You just need to get to the water, and it'll be all right." **Adamos says encouragingly yet a hint of worry was in his voice.

"_Right. Water."_ I think as I begin to get up and stumble to the creek.

"Percy lay down we need to get you to the infirmary." Luke says as he puts his free hand on my shoulder. I just shrug him of and push my way through the campers that were trying to stop me. I stepped back into the creek and instantly felt better. The wounds on my torso began to close and heal. I then hear some of the campers gasp.

Turning around they all had shocked looks on their faces. Except they weren't looking at me, they were looking above me. When I look up, I see it. Above my head is a glowing green hologram of a three-pointed spear, a trident.

Annabeth was quietly muttering, but in the silence, I could still hear some of what she was saying. "Oh Styx," She cursed. "I thought it would be Zeus… I didn't want…"

"It is determined," Chiron announced. All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't seem to want to.

"Poseidon," Chiron announced. "Earth shaker, Storm bringer, Father of horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

"**Congrats Percy. You've just been claimed." **Adamos says with glee and I feel him smiling widely.

**A/N: Hiddyho Neighborinos its good to see you all doing so okily dokily this fine diddly morning. Ok so I know that this chapter is much longer than my others, but there was so much I wanted to put in and some I had to change or cut out from what I originally wanted. I do like reading reviews because ya'll are so dang supportive and I loves it. Do leave reviews because I want to be a better writer. Anywho in one review someone requested a dual bladed scythe that becomes two chained sickles as a secondary weapon for Percy. I might input that in the story, or I might not have him use it at all, but I might just reference it. I input that little thing with the vaults as an excuse to have Percy going treasure hunting outside of camp. Adamos has been collecting many ancient and powerful weapons and relics so if you all want to leave a personal weapon in the reviews and I might put it in the vaults for Percy to find. Also, in response to someone else I don't want Percy to be over powered so soon. Training takes time and so does getting into shape, Percy maybe a demigod but he's still mortal so he won't be outright fighting with titans or gods in a blow for blow of sheer power. His mortal body can't handle that amount of divine power in my opinion. In a less serious note I just watched the Steven Universe movie and I liked it. I especially liked the song No Matter What between Steven and Amethyst. I'm just imaging Percy being all depressed before the Battle of Manhattan and Adamos comes in and starts performing the song for him. Ha! Anyways I'm actually considering making another story but this one will be a crossover. I'm thinking a PJO/Halo Reach story or a PJO/ League of Legends story. Percy's either gonna be Noble 6 that comes back to earth after the fall of Reach or his soul and body will be changed by a champion and he'll gain their powers and weapons and stuff. Also if any of you figure out where the shield spell came from you get a cookie. Please keep reading and leave reviews you beautiful bastards. Bye.**


	10. Chapter 9:A Quest Awaits

nPercy speaking

_Percy thinking_

**Adamos thoughts**

_**Adamos speaking**_

**All characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Hark Young Hero, A Quest Awaits You**

**Chapter 9**

It was the next morning after the capture the flag game ended when Chiron had moved me into cabin three. The inside of the cabin smelled like an ocean breeze, and not the Febreze kind. The walls inside glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds that lined the walls of the cabin. I had taken the bunk in the back corner, closest to the bathroom, which I am extremely grateful for since now I don't need to share the restrooms or showers with the other campers.

I didn't have to share the space with anyone, so I had plenty of room for my stuff. Both of my Minotaur horns were on the desk next to my bed, a few weeks' worth of clothes that was in the backpack that Aunt Hestia gave to me and Adamos was at the foot of my bed, the bag of toiletries from Luke sat alone in the bathroom, the magic book and the jar of comforting fire from Aunt Hestia also sat on the desk. I no longer had to really hide this stuff since it was just me here. I also got my own table at the dining pavilion, got to choose my own activities with Adamos, though he still insisted on my late-night training schedule and magic training during my free time. He even increased the amount of time I spent training since we didn't need to sneak around as much.

I think that it was just a subtle way to keep me distracted. I did appreciate it because I was beginning to feel miserable. I knew that I was going to be claimed by my dad at some point, but I was actually feeling like I was accepted into the Hermes cabin. Now though it felt like everyone was avoiding me like the plague. During the times that I was around the other campers and not doing activities or training I could hear faint whispers and stares. The hellhound attack had had sent two messages: That I was a child of the big three, and that not even camp was safe for me.

The other campers avoided me as much as possible. Cabin eleven was to nervous to have a sword class with me after what I did to the kids from the Ares cabin, so my lessons were now one-on-one with Luke. He seemed to be pushing me much harder than before and wasn't afraid if I left with a few more bruises than normal.

"You're going to need all the training you can get," He said as we were training. "Now let's try the viper beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."

Even with Adamos's blessing in play I still was barely able to defend against Luke's superior skill and experience whenever we dueled. Since he heard about what I did in the woods he has been fighting me with more force. According to Adamos just because I was given a boost in blade prowess with his powers didn't mean that I had the experience or skills to use them to their fullest. He said I was a level one player that payed for a level fifty character.

I still went to my Ancient Greek classes with Annabeth in the mornings. Adamos did what he always did during her sessions and just played music in the back of my head. Annabeth however was acting different. Every time I said something she would scowl at me like I'd just stolen something from her. I mean I know I threw a shield at her but she used me as bait so I figured we were sorta even. After the lessons though I heard her muttering as she walked away. "Quest…Poseidon...Dirty rotten…Got to make a plan…"

Even Clarisse was keeping her distance from me, though from the heated glare she would occasionally send my way made it clear that she still hated me. I was honestly wishing that she would get angry with me, challenge me, something! I'd rather get into fights everyday than be treated like some kind of freak that doesn't belong.

I felt so left out that one time I just gave Adamos full reign for most of the day. He used the time to visit Kevin, who apparently built himself a wooden hut on the secluded beach, and summoned furniture for the golem. His little hut actually looked really nice. And also played more pinochle with Mr. D, who didn't like that Adamos beat him when we first arrived and was glad for a rematch. This time however, since Chiron wasn't around mostly, Adamos gambled one of my minotaur horns in return for a favor from the god. At first he was reluctant but after a few jabs at the god and the promise to bring him alcohol from outside camp if he won he agreed. Now I currently have a favor from a god.

I knew that I was also resented at camp. One night I came back to my cabin after my late-night training and found a mortal newspaper in front of my cabin, a copy of the New York Daily News, opened onto a specific article. Adamos had to read the article for me and let me say that with each word we both became more pissed.

"BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT" was the title of the article. It talked about mine and my mom's disappearance and basically painted me as some kind of mentally unstable problem child. And the one who was responsible for the article was none other than my jerk of a step-dad Gabe. Immediately Adamos managed to trace the paper back to a couple Ares campers, and in response he cursed them so that their clothing was two sizes to small no matter what. I however wadded the paper up and threw it away. Flopping into my bed. "Lights out." I said miserably.

"**Come on Percy it's not so bad."**

"Are you kidding me?" I say in disbelief. "Everyone here stays away from me like the plague. Even the ones I was starting to get to know are treating me different. I thought that when I would get claimed things would be better. Not…this." I say waving my hand in the air.

"**Ok so its not the most ideal position we're in." **I scoff at that. **"But they're just scared. A child of the big three other than Thalia hasn't been born in decades. That and the whole hound incident, and they just are to afraid to see the truth."**

"That doesn't really help my situation now."

"**No. Not now. You just have to be patient."**

"You know I hate it when you tell me to be patient."

"**I know. But don't worry Percy, they'll come around eventually and stop acting like a bunch scared children."**

"You do know that we are children?" I ask with a raised brow.

"**Your also demigods."**

"Whatever. Good night."

"**Night Percy." **He says then i begin to drift into unconsciousness.

That night I had my worst nightmare yet. I was running along a beach during a storm. There was a city behind me, but it wasn't New York. The buildings were farther apart, and palm trees lined the beach and low hills were in the distance. About a hundred yards down the beach were two men fighting. The were both muscled and had long hair and beards and were wearing Greek togas. However, one was wearing blue while the other had green. They were grappling and fighting with each other. They threw punches, kicks, and headbutted each other, and every blow caused lightning to flash in the sky and the winds to howl louder.

I had a feeling that I needed to stop them. That what they were doing was wrong, and I tried to run to them. However, the closer I tried to get the farther the wind pushed me back. My heels dug into the sand, but I still couldn't push forward. Over the storm I could hear them shouting at each other. The blue one kept shouting at the green one, "Give it back, give it back!" Like a kid who just had his toy taken from him.

The waves only seemed to get bigger as the fighting went on, the ocean spray hitting me in the face. I was desperately yelling at them to stop fighting, but I could barely hear my own voice from the chaos around me. Then the ground shook. Laughter seemed to echo from underneath the earth, and a voice sounded that made my blood feel like ice in my veins.

"Come down little hero," The voice said "COME TO ME!"

The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down to the center of the earth. My feet slipped and I was prepared to fall into the abyss, but I then felt a pull on my back and was pulled/thrown back to the surface. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a dark-haired man in a brownish gold toga with green accents holding a golden rope that went in my direction. This was the last sight I saw before I fell back to the ground.

I woke up, remembering me hitting the ground from the landing. But I was still in cabin three. My body was telling me that it was still morning, roughly a little after 5:30 a.m. I might not have used any powers from Adamos's domain of night but I have been able to tell time accurately at night or know when morning is coming. I look outside and see nothing but storm clouds. That part of the dream was real at least.

"**So you're up?" **Adamos says as a statement more than a question.

"Yeah. Had a nightmare." I whisper, trying to bring my blankets closer as I remember the chilling voice.

"**Yeah I saw. That was something else. Though I would suggest you pay attention to dreams like that, they can be very informative."**

"What do you mean informative?" I ask.

"**Sometimes demigods…," **Adamos pauses as he thinks. **"Dream about glimpses, for a lack of a better word, of things to come, things that happened, or just what's currently happening. They aren't usually straight forward and sometimes the dreams can com from godly beings, though those are usually pretty cryptic."**

"So what do you think this one was about? Because it seemed pretty bad."

"**That's an understatement." **I hear him mumble. **"What it means is that we're going on a quest. The problem on Olympus has gotten to the point that we are going to need to act."**

"Ok, I guess I better start packing." I say, and I feel Adamos give a nod of agreement.

I take a deep breath. I was finally going on the quest after waiting so long. I get out of bed and get dressed. I look over to the stuff on my desk and put the magic spell book in the magic back pack. I then grab the jar of fire, the flame giving me a warm and comforting feeling, before I put it into the pack. I then start putting clothes into the bag, when I hear a clopping sound at the door.

"Uh. Come in?" I say. Nobodies come to see me since I was moved into cabin three.

Grover trotted inside, "Mr. D wants to see you." He said.

"Why?" I ask, secretly hoping that the wine god didn't want revenge for Adamos beating him at cards. Adamos however was feeling irritation at Grover's presence.

"He wants to kill… I mean, I'd better let him tell you." I gulp at the vague statement.

Nervously I follow him, thinking that I was in trouble.

"_You don't think he's actually gonna kill me?" _I think.

"**Not if he wants a trident through the throat. Dad would probably flood the camp if he tried to do anything. And with how volatile things are getting on Olympus, only an idiot would attempt something."**

"_Well. I guess that's reassuring. Kinda."_ I think as I make my way to the Big House. I was still scared that I would be killed because I was a child of the big three and that Mr. D was asked to punish me for it.

Over Long Island Sound, the sky was engulfed in rolling thunder clouds. It looked to the point that I thought it was going to rain in camp despite the magical wards that controlled the weather. I asked Grover if it was going to be a problem.

"No, it never rains in camp, it'll pass." He said

"Then what about that?" I say, pointing at the mass of thunderclouds in the distance.

He just looks uneasily at the clouds. "It'll pass, it always does."

"**Do you think that he'll ever get tired of being wrong?"** Adamos says as we start to walk to the Big House again.

"_What? About the rain?"_

"**Yeah that storms got traces of power in it. Definitely caused by a god."**

"_Well at least it was good that I brought my jacket with me."_

We walked past the volley ball pit. The kids from the Apollo cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. Of in the distant strawberry fields I could see the Dionysus twins and the Demeter kids working on the plants. Everybody seemed to be going about their normal business, but there was a tension present in the air as every so often campers would glance at the sky.

Grover and I walked up the steps of the Big house to find both Chiron and Mr. D sitting at the pinochle table like so many times before. Mr. D was sipping on a Diet Coke while Chiron was sitting in his fake chair. The two were playing a game with two invisible players.

"If it isn't the sea brat." Mr. D said without looking up, but there was a slight edge in his voice. I guess he was still sour about owing me, or Adamos, a favor.(Get it, sour? wine grapes?) "Get over here, and don't expect me to bow to you just cause your barnacle beard's kid." I could feel Adamos rolling his eyes in my mind.

Though at the end of Mr. D's statement a large flash of lightning sounded in the distance. Thunder shook the Big House and caused the windows to rattle. "Blah, blah, blah" Mr. D said.

Chiron was just faking interest in the card game, while Grover was cowering by the railing. "If I had my way, all of your molecules would erupt into flames. Then we'd just have to clean up the ashes and be done with this." Mr. D said. "But Chiron seems to think that doing so would go against what I was sent here to do, keeping you brats safe and crap."

"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm Mr. D." Chiron says not looking up from his cards.

"Nonsense," Mr. D waved off. "The boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. Maybe I could just turn you into a dolphin and send you to your father."

"**He tries and I'll stab the bitch in his bitch face." **Adamos growls. I just kinda chuckle and sweat drop. (Aw yeah anime reference)

"Mr. D—" Chiron says with a warning tone.

"Fine, fine. There's another option, but it's deadly foolishness." Mr. D then rose from the table. "I'm off to Olympus for an emergency meeting. If the brat's here when I get back, I'll turn him into a dolphin." Then Mr. D turned to me. "And you Percy Jackson, if you have any sense you'll find that that is a much better fate than what Chiron wants you to do." Then he picks up a playing card, it turns golden. He then snapped his fingers and glowed and disappeared, leaving the scent of grapes hanging in the air.

Chiron put down his own cards, his face looking haggard, "Come Percy, sit, and you as well Grover." We sat down at the pinochle table, and from what I see Chiron had a winning for the game. "Tell me Percy, what do you make of the hellhound?" He asked.

The memory of the event brought a shiver down my spine. I could remember the wounds that it gave me. Chiron seemed to be looking at me, as if he expected me to say something. "It scared me, If you hadn't shot it, I don't know what would have happened." It wasn't exactly the truth, I knew that Adamos would help me if I was truly about to die, but I felt that the hellhound could have done much worse to me before that happened.

"You'll face far worse Percy. Far worse before you're done." Adamos hums in agreement with Chiron.

"And what would I be done with." I say with a raised brow.

"Your quest of course. Will you accept it?" Chiron says with more vigor in his voice.

I glance over to Grover, to see that he has his fingers crossed and his face seemed to be scrunched. I looked back to Chiron. "Uh, sir. You haven't told me what it is yet."

He grimaced at that. "Well, you see, the details are the hard part."

"**It's really not that hard to explain." **Adamos said. **"I don't know why they insist on the dramatics." **I have to physically restrain myself from snorting at Adamos calling someone else out on being dramatic.

Then thunder and lightning begin to go off around the valley. The storm clouds had engulfed the edges of the camp. "Poseidon and Zeus," I say. "They are fighting over something. Something that was stolen." I say, remembering the dream that I had last night.

Chiron exchanged looks with Grover. Chiron leaned forward in his chair. "And how do you know that?" He asked inquisitively.

"_Uhh."_

"**Tell him about the dreams. He'll believe you."**

"I've been having dreams. About two people fighting over something." I say.

"I knew it!" Grover exclaimed.

"Hush Satyr." Chiron ordered.

"But it is his quest!" Grover said with excitement. "It must be!"

"Only the oracle can determine that." Chiron says. The two continue to debate back and forth.

"_I can't believe he bought it so easily." _ I think.

"**Yeah well demigod dreams tend to happen when important things are going down. I think that if we just say you had a demigod dream, we could get away with so much stuff and not get into trouble for it."**

"_You think that would actually work?"_

"**You'd be surprised how easy it is to trick people to get what you want if you just say the right words."**

"_Well lets try not to trick everyone to much. It kinda feels wrong." _I admit. I just feel Adamos shrug in acknowledgement. I knew that this was the most I was gonna get from him so I just turn back to Chiron and Grover.

Chiron huffs. "Anyways Percy, you are correct. Your father and Lord Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: A lightning bolt."

I just laugh nervously at the claim "A lightning bolt?"

"Don't take this lightly." Chiron warned." I'm not talking about an aluminum cutout in a children's play. The bolt that I'm talking about is a two foot long cylinder of high grade celestial bronze, capped at both ends with god level explosives."

"Oh." Was all I managed to say. Adamos's spear could wipe New Jersey off the map according to him, if a weapon as strong as that went missing, no wonder everyone was so nervous.

"Zeus's master bolt," Chiron started, getting visibly worked up by the second. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are crafted in its image. The first weapon forged by the Elder Cyclopes during the war against the titans, the bolt that sheared the top off of Mt. Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt which holds enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."

"And this weapon is missing?"

"Stolen," said Chiron.

"By who?"

"By whom." He corrected. I rolled my eyes at this, as he broke most of the tension. Adamos just snickers. "And the one who stole it was you."

My mouth gaped and my eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "At least that's what Zeus thinks." Chiron says holding up a hand. "During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked me best,' 'Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' etcetera."

"**My disasters are way better, thank you very much. And Grandma always liked me more" **Adamos said haughtily. I just ignore him.

"After the meeting however, Zeus found that his master bolt was missing, taken from Olympus under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now a god can't steal another god's symbol of power directly. It is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes that your father had a demigod take it."

"But why would he think I stole it?"

"Patience child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the cyclopes lie under the seas, which gives Poseidon influence over the craftsman of Olympus's weapons. Zeus believes that Poseidon will have the cyclopes forge copies of the bolt to use against him and overthrow his rule. The only part that Zeus wasn't sure about was which demigod he used for the theft, but now that you have been claimed by your father, he believes that you are the thief."

"But I've never been to Olympus, why does he think that I did it? That's so stupid." I say.

Chiron and Grover look up at the sky. The storm clouds had rolled over the camp, looking like a sea of black had swallowed the sky.

"Percy. I don't think that it's wise to insult the lord of the sky." Grover said nervously. I was still looking at the clouds before turning back, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand in nervousness. Internally I felt Adamos on edge, as if he was waiting for something particular to happen.

"I believe that paranoid would be a better word Percy." Chiron said. "However, your father has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam…" He looked to me expectantly.

"_Is he seriously doing this? Like right now."_

"**I guess." **Adamos sighs. **"Father, Aunt Hera, and many other gods and goddesses got together and trapped Zeus in a golden net. In exchange for freedom he had to promise to a fairer rule. That should be the answer he's looking for."**

"He was trapped in a golden net. Poseidon, Hera, and other gods trapped him in it and made him promise to be a better king." I said after a bit to feign myself thinking it over.

"Correct," Chiron said "And Zeus hasn't trusted Poseidon since. Of course, Poseidon denies ever stealing the bolt. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now that you have been claimed, it has pushed Zeus over the edge of paranoia."

"But I didn't know anything about the gods till recently!" I try to exclaim. It was a half-truth as I didn't know much about the mythological world until recently.

"Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you… wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"

"**Hey pot, names kettle and this is my daughter Thalia. Have we meet?" **Adamos says sarcastically.

"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon—my dad—only claimed me recently. So he couldn't have stolen it." Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree with you that thievery is not something that Poseidon would do. But the Sea god is too proud to convince Zeus, so Zeus has demanded that he return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date. I had hoped that Hera, or Demeter, or Hestia would be able to calm them down. But with your arrival Zeus's anger has reignited. Now neither is willing to back down. Unless the master bolt is returned before the solstice, I'm afraid there will be war. Do you know what a full-fledged war between the gods looks like Percy?"

"No." I admitted.

"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with self. Olympians forced to choose sides. Destruction. Carnage. Hundreds of millions dead, the world turned into a battlefield much like both world wars."

"That sounds bad."

"And I'm afraid that you Percy, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath." As soon as he said this it started to rain. The campers outside all looked at the sky in shock before running to find shelter. This made me feel a bit guilty. My presence had brought this to camp.

"**Stop feeling bad about it. This is a problem that we need to solve. If Zeus would rather whine than actually try to solve this problem then that's his fault." **Adamos says seriously.

I agree but I was feeling angry. "So I have to find the bolt and return it to Zeus?"

"Yes," Chiron said. "What better peace offering than for the son of Poseidon to return Zeus's symbol of power."

"So do you have any idea who stole the bolt?" I ask.

"I believe I do," Chiron said. "it was a part of a prophecy I received long ago. Some of the lines make sense to me now, but you must accept the quest if you want to know more. You can find out by seeking the counsel of the Oracle."

"Why can't you tell me more."

"Because if I do, you might be to fearful to accept. So Percy, I must ask. Do you accept?"

I looked over at Grover, and he nods encouragingly. _"So is this the important thing I'm supposed to do?"_

"**Yeah, but this is only the beginning."**

I gulp nervously. _"If I go on this quest, will I find my mom?"_

Adamos is quiet for a few seconds before responding with one simple word. **"Yes."**

I look directly into Chiron's eyes. "All right. I'll go on this quest."

"Then it's time for you to consult the Oracle. Go upstairs to the attic Percy Jackson. When you come back down, assuming your still sane, we will talk more."

I got up and walked into the Big House. _"So, do you know who has the lightning bolt?"_ I ask.

"**No, I don't. I have a few ideas but nothing to concrete. The camp and inside Olympus have always been hazy when I look into them. What I do know is that it was a camper that stole the bolt. It was the only logical conclusion."**

"_A camper?"_

"**Yes, during the winter solstice the campers took a trip to Olympus. This was around the time that the bolt was stolen, and since gods can't steal other god's symbols, only one of the campers could have done it. I don't know who actually stole it because they were cloaked in some powerful mist to throw off my sight."**

"_So this is just some one's sick joke at starting a war?"_

"**I wouldn't consider it a joke, but some one is trying to start a war. Someone incredibly dangerous that would gain a lot from a war between the gods. And I think that after it all they plan on using someone else as a scape goat to put more fuel into the war."**

"_And who's this scapegoat? And whose behind all of this. _

"**I can't tell you, he'd not some one we want to trifle with yet. If his plan is what I think it is than he's trying to start a three way conflict all over again. We should just consult the oracle first, then plan from there."**

During this conversation I had walked up four flights of stairs. At the end of the hall was a green trap door on the ceiling. I pulled the cord and the door opened. From it descended a ladder. The air that wafted down smelled of mildew and mothballs and something else. I took a deep breath and ascended the ladder. The attic was filled with a bunch of junk: Armor covered in cobwebs, shields covered with rust, a long table filled with monster trophies—monster eyes, claws, horns, and at the end was a large snake head with horns and rows of sharp teeth like a shark. A plaque under it said 'HYDRA HEAD #1, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.

By the window, sitting on a tripod stool, was one of the most grotesque things I had ever seen: a mummy. What was once must have been a woman was now a shriveled husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a rainbow headband over what was once black hair. Her skin was leathery and thin over her body. Her eyes were glossy white slits, like white marbles. It was clear that she had been dead a long time. Looking at her sent shivers down my spine.

"_This is the oracle?"_

"**Yes."**

"_Are all oracles like…this?"_ I ask trying not to look directly at it—her—whatever the oracle is.

"**No, the oracle is like this because…circumstances. Lets just ask and get this over with."** I agree with him. The sooner I get this over with the sooner I can get away from this creepy felling.

"So do I just ask it or is there like a pass code or something?" I ask aloud. I just feel Adamos give a nod of acknowledgement. Way to be vague as ever.

"Uh—Oh mystical Oracle, show me my destiny." I say aloud. Adamos just snickers in my mind. My face goes a bit red in embarrassment.

A green mist then begins to flow out from the mouth of the mummy, coiling over the floor like tendrils. The hissing of countless snakes came from seemingly nowhere. Inside my head a voice spoke. It wasn't Adamos, this voice was raspy and hissed like a snake. The presence in my head didn't feel malicious at all. It had a presence more similar to the fates. I unconsciously take a few steps back.

"_**I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Step forward and receive your prophecy."**_ I take a few steps forward. The mist then begins to swirl and take shape in front of me. It takes the form of four men sitting at a table, until it becomes clearer and their faces morph into my jerk of a step father Gabe and his friends. I grit my teeth at seeing him.

Gabe turned to me and spoke in a rasping voice:_** "You shall go west and face the god who has turned."**_

His buddy to the right turns and speaks in the same voice: "_**You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned."**_

The guy on the left the turned to speak: "_**You shall be betrayed by the on who calls you friend"**_

Finally, Eddie, my building super, spoke the most ominous line of all: "_**And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end"**_

The figures began to dissolve. At first, I was stunned, but as the mist began to flow back into the corpse, like a large serpent I cried out to it. "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?" However, the last of the mist disappeared back into the mummy. The attic became eerily silent. I had my prophecy and I felt that I wasn't going to get any more out of the Oracle.

"_Could you get any thing from that?" _

"**Hmm, I think I got a bit figured out but it would be best to discuss this later." **I just give a nod in agreement. I really wanted to leave the creepy attic.

I made my way down to the porch where Chiron and Grover still were, waiting for me. "Well?" Chiron asked me.

I just slumped into the chair that I was in earlier. "She said that I would find what was stolen and return it."

Grover sat forward, knocking the half eaten can sitting on the table onto the floor. "That's great!"

"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed "This is important."

I could still hear the rasping voice in my head. "She …she said that I would go west and faced the god who has turned. And that I would retrieve what was stolen and return it."

"I knew it!" Grover said.

Chiron however didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"

"_Should I tell him more? Its not really something that I feel comfortable sharing."_

"**I think you should tell him the last line now, but let's keep the betrayal line to ourselves for now. The thief could have ears around hear and we don't want to tip him off. It would be best to tell Chiron the entire prophecy when were alone. There are unwanted ears present."**

"_Alright, that sounds reasonable." _I think, I assume he means Grover, but I had the feeling that we were being watched as well. I look directly at Chiron once more. "The Oracle said that I would …fail to save what matters most in the end." I say, my voice becoming quieter.

Chiron's serious look became more solemn as did Grover's. The air felt cold and for a few seconds the only sounds were the rain that was falling over camp. "I'm truly sorry Percy. That line does seem rather bleak, but know this, the Oracles words always have double meanings. It's best not to dwell on them to much. We might not figure out its meaning until it comes to pass."

"Okay," I said, wishing to talk about something else. "So, who's this god in the west?"

"Ah think Percy, if your father and Zeus go to war, who stands to gain from it?"

I think for a moment. "Somebody who wants to take over."

Chiron nods. "Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge against the other gods, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow with the death of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath of no children, an oath that both have broken."

I thought about it and remembered the underground voice in my dreams. "Hades."

Chiron nodded. "The lord of the dead is the only possibility."

Grover began gaping like a fish. "Whoa, wait. Wh—what?"

"A fury came after Percy," Chiron explained. "She watched him until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. The furies only obey one lord: Hades."

"Yes but Hades hates all heroes," Grover tried to protest. "Especially since Percy is a son of Poseidon."

"A hell hound managed to get into the camp," Chiron countered. "Those can only be summoned from the fields of punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon to use Percy here to clear his name. Hades might wish to kill him before he can begin his quest."

"Great that's two major god's that want to kill me." I mutter.

"But a quest to…" Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."

"**Coward, where's that enthusiasm from earlier goat." **Adamos said coldly.

"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I won't say that I understand the Lord of the Dead's motives for this but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."

Currently I started to make my own conclusions. The furies only work for Hades, the hellhound comes from the underworld, and from the story about Thalia the Minotaur could also be from Hades which confirms that my mother is alive and the Lord of the Dead has her.

"**Percy calm down. We'll get her back."**

"_But He has her. He took the bolt and now has my mom we need to get her back!"_

"**And we will, but I don't believe Hades is the guilty party. He's being used as a scape goat by someone else to start a war."**

"_But how do you know he didn't do it? Chiron made many good points."_

"**Because there's something else pulling the strings that I've been following. Hades is many things, but he wouldn't start a needless war on Olympus." **I deflate at the tone of his voice. The burning flame that was inside me quelling. Besides it's not like I could just go over and demand my mom from him. He's a god and I'm twelve.

I look over at Grover. He was trembling and nervously eating the pinochle chips. _"So what do you suggest we do to get my mom back."_

"**We need to reason and bargain with him. Hades is a man of his word if nothing else. He has a way with words and can be a bit…manipulative with deals but he will fulfill his end of the bargain if we convince him to let your mom go."**

"_I guess that's the best that I can hope for."_

"**Don't give in Percy, hope and courage can be some of the greatest tools for anyone to possess."**

I don't respond but look at Chiron. "Is there anyway that we can just tell the other gods about this. Maybe they could solve this." I try to reason.

"I'm afraid not," Chiron said. "While we do suspect Hades—Like I assume your father does—we can't really prove it. That and God's can't enter another god's domain without permission. It is another of the ancient laws. Heroes however are exempt from this rule and can enter when they please so long as they are daring enough. Why do you think the gods like to send humans on quests?"

"So I'm just being used?" I ask, though I could feel Adamos's irritation at the statement, and if he were out here with me I bet he would have smacked me in the back of the head for the comment.

"What I'm saying is that it was no accident that Poseidon claimed you now. He's in a desperate situation and he needs you Percy." Chiron said.

For the first time I actually gave thoughts to my dad. My emotions were completely mixed. When I first learned about him I was so excited about it. Then I began to wonder why he wasn't around more or sent a message. Now I didn't know what to feel. I felt grateful that he claimed me yet at the same time I was a bit resentful because it was only because he needed me to do something for him. But I pushed that all to the side, Adamos has liked advising me when I had problems, mostly with weird quotes and words of wisdom, but I felt that he would tell me to focus on one thing at a time, and right now the quest was more important.

"So, let me get this straight," I began. "I'm supposed to go on a quest to the underworld and confront a god."

"Check."

"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."

"Check—**That's debatable."**

"And get back before the solstice, which is in ten days."

"That sums it up."

I looked over at Grover, who was half way through a game of 52 eat up. "Did I mention that Maine is nice this time of year?" He said weakly.

"You don't have to go," I say. "I can't ask you of that—**You really don't need to."**

"Oh…" He shifted his hooves. "No …it's just that satyrs and underground places…well…" He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing bits of cards off his shirt. "You saved my life, Percy. If… if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."

"**Or we can take some else. Any one else. You think Clarisse would be willing?"**

"Grover—**Nooooo—**I would be glad—**No, no, no—**if you came—**no, no, no, no—**on this quest with me—**OH GODS DAMMIT!"**

"_Get over it, Grover's my friend and he's going with us."_

"**Ugggghhhhaaaaaah. Fine." **Adamos whines before giving in.

I internally smirk at my victory. "So where do we go. The Oracle only said to go west."

"The entrance to the underworld has always been in the west. It has moved like Olympus and is also in America."

"And where is it exactly."

Chiron just looked surprised. "I thought that it would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles."

"Oh right, because I already know that." I say sarcastically.

"Oh right, my apologies Percy. I forgot that we skipped the orientation film for you. Maybe I should have shown it to you." He mutters the last part.

"Ok so we just get on a plane—"

"No!" Grover shot up. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"

I just shook my head, I can't remember ever being in an airport actually. My mom never took me because she always said we didn't have enough money and that her parents had died in a plane crash.

"Percy, think," Chiron said. "Your father is the Sea God. One of Zeus's most bitter rivals. If you were to step foot in the skies Zeus would strike you down without a second thought for being in his domain." Over head thunder sounded off, as if in agreement.

"Okay," I draw it out. "So I'll travel overland."

"Precisely," Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one the other has already volunteered, if your willing to accept her help."

"_It's her isn't it." _I think blankly.

"**Yeah, she's been following us since the goat came to the cabin this morning."**

"Gee," I said feigning surprise. "Who would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"

The air then shimmered behind Chiron. Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her pocket. "I've been waiting a long time for a quest, Seaweed brain, and Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

"**Wow. She's already being a pain. Can I put her in her place? Please."**

"_Go for it. But try to be nice we kinda need all the help we can get."_

"**Fine." **Adamos sighs. He then takes control and gives Annabeth a level gaze.

"_**Ok first of all this my quest not yours so get off that high horse you seem to have put yourself on."**_ Adamos says giving her a blank look. The others give a surprised look at the sudden change in attitude.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth says in disbelief.

"_**Oh I'm sorry Beaker, did I hit you to hard with the truth. Has anyone told you your social skills are pretty crappy? I mean you stalk me all morning then the first thing that comes out of your mouth is that you want a quest and calling me a name. If this were a job interview, I would reject you immediately."**_

Annabeth's cheeks color at the logic. But her pride doesn't let her back down. "You need me, the quest needs three people. I've been at camp longer than most other campers, I know more about the mythological world and have been around it more than you. I can make a plan to make sure that this quest goes smoothly. Athena always has a plan. And why did you call me Beaker, what's with that?"

"_**Ok 1. I could actually find some one else to go one this quest with me. Maybe I could ask Luke. He's been here for a long time and is supposed to be the best swordsman in camp," **_At this Annabeth begins to fidget nervously. Chiron and Grover are just watching the exchange like a tennis match. _**"He would be a great choice of a quest companion. 2. You come up with a plan? If quests were that easy to prepare for Chiron wouldn't be trying to warn me so much. And 3. I called you Beaker because you remind me of the Muppet. Athena kids are supposed to be smart, and he's a scientist. Also, you've been kinda annoying and all that seems to come out of your mouth lately is me, me, me, me. So, tell me Chase," **_Annabeth flinches when he calls her by her last name._** "Why don't you try asking politely about going on this quest instead of demanding it. Because last I checked I was choosing who goes."**_ Adamos says with narrowed eyes that held a serious look.

"_I thought that you didn't trust Luke?"_

"**I don't. This is a powerplay. I mean just look at her." **And I take a moment to look her over.

Each shot caused Annabeth's walls to crumble more. She seemed to be frustrated with how this turned out. About being potentially passed over, and about being called on her behavior. She looked like she wanted to argue more but gave up. "Percy… if you would like it. I would like to volunteer for the quest."

"_Ease up on her. We need to be able to get along during this thing."_

"**Fine, fine, I'll stop."**

"_**Annabeth," **_Adamos says. _**"I would be glad if you could come with us."**_ Adamos says with a small smile. Annabeth let out a breath of relief.

Chiron gave a raised eyebrow and started to look me/Adamos over, like he was trying to solve the riddle that we were before putting it to the side. "Excellent. This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own." Lightning then flashed outside and rain poured down harder in the camp. "No time to waste. I think you should start packing immediately."

The other two began to leave but I stayed behind, and that left only me and Chiron. Adamos gave me back control. **"We're clear." **He says and I give an internal sign of acknowledgment.

"Percy? What's wrong?" Chiron asks noticing that I haven't left.

In response I just hold a finger over my lips in a sign of silence. I get up from my seat at the pinochle table. This brings confusion to Chiron's face, but he remains, not saying a word. I walk into the big house and look around for a bit before coming across what I need: some sticky notes, a pen, and a lighter.

I walk back out to where Chiron still remains. I stop in front of the table and take one of the slips of paper and begin writing on it before sliding it over to Chiron.

He takes the paper and looks it over for a few seconds before looking back at me. "Is this the full—" I then cut him off with a curt "Yes."

"I see. I can see why you would keep this to yourself. This is most disconcerting." Chiron says grimly.

"Chiron," I say softly, drawing his attention fully. "I would like to ask you to look into this. If a camper and the spy are the same I need to know who has tried to kill me."

"I would rather not suspect one of our campers of such things but this prophecy concerns me and with the evidence of recent events I have no choice but to look into it. Rest assured Percy we will solve this." I give a nod in thanks and walk off. I had a quest to prepare for.

**A/N: Welcome my M:Men( you know like X:Men but my username starts with M) I'm sorry that this is a bit late. I've been a bit busy and had circumstances set upon me. Anyways I hope that you enjoy this chapter. I hope none of you true fans hold how I treat Annabeth against me. Personally, I always found her kinda annoying. Canon Percy would deal with the rude attitude (heh rhymes) but Adamos is a god. He's not going to let some overconfident and self-centered twelve-year-old girl tell him what to do. Anyways now how was your day? Good? If so that's good to hear. Anyways please leave a review on my work, it helps to fix future chapters probably.**


	11. Chapter 10:Thirty Minutes

Percy Speaking

_Percy Thoughts_

_**Adamos Speaking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**All characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos, he's mine)**

**Chapter 10**

**All It Takes is Thirty Minutes**

I had just left the Big House, the smell of reptile still present in my mind, and walked back to my cabin. Annabeth and Grover had already gone off to where ever they needed to be.

"_Was it the right thing to tell him? I mean what if he was the traitor?"_ I think to Adamos. It didn't need to be said but I knew he could feel that I was now a bit skeptical of the other campers.

"**Chiron is many things, but he wouldn't betray the gods, much less the campers. If there's a threat to the campers I can guarantee that he'll do his best to solve the problem." **

"_Yeah. I guess he does seem the trust worthy type."_ I think as I enter my cabin. I head over to the back pack that I left on my bed.

"**All right quest checklist. Clothes." **Adamos begins sounding off.

"A weeks-worth. Check."

"**Tooth brush?"**

"With toothpaste. Check."

"**Minotaur horn?"**

"I got one of them packed. Why do I need this again?"

"**Just in case you need to sacrifice something for a favor or whatever we need it for, maybe as a bottle opener. Spell book?"**

"Check. And seriously? A bottle opener."

"**Yeah, I mean what else would you use it for? Jar of Hearth fire?"**

"Check. You never said what this was for." I say eyeing the flaming bottle.

"**Just emergencies. Speaking of emergencies. First aid kit?"**

"I don't think I have…wait there's one already in here. Along with a bag of…Bread squares?"

"**Well I guess I can cross ambrosia off the list. Hestia always was a forward thinker."**

"We're going to have to thank Aunt Hestia for all of this at some point." I speak aloud.

"There's no need for that." A female voice says from behind.

"Oh jeez!" I say turning around, sighing in relief as I see that it's only Hestia, standing in the middle of my cabin in her early thirty-year-old form, holding the book I always see with her at her side.

"My apologies Percy. It wasn't my intention to startle you." She said with an apologetic look on her face.

"No, no. It's fine. Just…wasn't expecting you to appear out of nowhere." I say, now that my heart rate has settled down. "So, any way what are you doing here?"

"Can't an aunt come see her nephew off on his first quest?" She says with a tilt of her head and an inquisitive look. She reminded me of an adorable puppy.

"No there's nothing wrong with that. Though I appreciate that you came." I said.

Her smile grew a bit wider. "I do wish you good luck on this quest. I have the utmost faith that you will succeed."

"You really think that? Because so far my prophecy hasn't really inspired much confidence." I say irritably.

Hestia gives me a look of understanding. "I know that the prophecy seems ominous, but they often have double meanings. So, I suggest that you maintain hope for the future. You never know how it will turn out."

"Wait!? You know about my prophecy?" Hestia just nods at my question. "How?"

"Well, all prophecies go through Apollo once they are spoken, as the Oracle belongs to him. However, I saw the prophecy when it was written in this." She says motioning to the book that she was holding. It was the same one that I saw when we first talked.

"Actually, I was wondering about that. What is it? It seems pretty important to you." I say eying the book.

"_**That is the Tome of Knowledge. A book that contains the knowledge, secrets, history and current events of the world. That just so happened to belong to me a long time ago." **_Adamos finally speaks up through me.

"Wait? That's the book you were talking about?" I say eyeing the book skeptically. "I thought that it would be. I don't know, bigger."

"The book is a symbol of power Percy. It can take many forms." Hestia explains. "And it still belongs to you Adamos. I'm only holding it for you."

"Wait. So, couldn't we just look in the thing so that we know who stole the bolt? I mean that could make things so much easier, it's your book, right?"

"_**Yeah, I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. The book updates on all events that take place in the mortal world and all correct known knowledge as well as anything that I perceive and understand. The only times that the book doesn't record something is when some thing or someone uses enough power to block it or recording anything to do with a god or goddess. The only way to spy on one of them is to force a connection, though most of the gods forget to cloak themselves so black mail was never in short supply." **_Adamos says, chuckling.

"Okay. But what's with you speaking out now?" I question.

Adamos shrugs. _**"I'm not going to be rude and have a private conversation while Aunt Hestia is right here. I mean I could let her read our minds but that's not the same."**_

"I'm glad that your manners are still intact." Hestia said with a smile.

I snort. "Please, he likes to laugh and talk about people in my head all the time since they can't hear him."

"_**Way to be a snitch."**_ Adamos says in mock annoyance.

"Aren't you the big brother, shouldn't you be setting an example or something?" I respond while rolling my eyes. Hestia meanwhile was busy chuckling at our antics.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand. I came to give you a few things I wanted you to have before you left." Hestia cuts in, stopping whatever argument was starting. "I brought you a thermos of nectar from Olympus and money to use for emergencies. And I mean EMERGENCIES. So don't use it to buy snacks or candy. Adamos." She says the last part pointedly.

"_**Yes mom." **_Adamos says while crossing my arms. Though his tone contained more affection than it did sarcasm.

Hestia gives him a warm heartfelt smile. "I know you two will succeed, you must trust each other, and I know that everything will turn out all right." She then steps closer and wraps us up into a hug that fills me with nice feelings and warmth. "Now I must take my leave, and you have a quest to get to." She then disappears in a pillar of fire as we wave goodbye.

"It was nice of her to wish us farewell." I say. "But she is right, it's time to go. The sooner we leave the sooner I can get my mom back."

"**Not so fast Percy I think your forgetting something important."**

"Like what?" I say with a raised brow.

"**Sunscreen?" **

"You can't be serious?" I say in disbelief.

"**Fine, fine we can leave the sunscreen. But if you get burned, I'm saying told you so."**

"Whatever." I say as I place the now stocked bag by my door. After that I left my cabin and headed back to the Big House. I wanted to ask more about quests.

Seeing Chiron again his expression shifted from one of contemplation to one of attention. Annabeth soon arrived shortly after, probably thinking the same thing as me, and Chiron began to give us more things for our quest. He gave use each one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. Each drachma was the size of a thin mint girl scout cookie and had an image of a Greek god or goddess on one side and a picture of the empire state building on the other. According to Chiron these were gold to separate them from mortal Drachmas, which are silver. Apparently, the gods had a thing for gold, not that I hadn't figured that out whenever I look at the Apollo cabin. Anyways, Chiron said that these were used for non-mortal transactions.

Next was a canteen of nectar, which was half the amount Aunt Hestia gave me, and a Ziploc of ambrosia. He made it specifically clear that these were for emergencies only since they can heal our injuries, and now I'm glad that I have a surplus, I mean food that heals you was a godsend(heh). However, Chiron made it very clear that this was for specifically emergencies since eating to much would cause us to burst into flames. Seriously, why is there always a catch with this mythological stuff.

**Line break**

It was now around two in the afternoon and we were all standing at the top of Half-Blood Hill. I had my magic backpack from Aunt Hestia with me. I stood there fiddling with the metal band on my wrist that turned into a godly weapon, my ADHD acting up as we waited. Annabeth had brought her magic baseball hat that turned her invisible, which she told me that her mother gave it to her on her twelfth birthday. In her hand she had a classical architecture book for when she apparently got bored, and a long bronze knife that was tucked into the sleeve of her shirt. Those were the only outstanding things that she seemed to have on her, the rest being in her back pack, probably.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as a human. He wore a green Rasta cap due to the rain causing his hair to flatten, exposing his horns. His orange back pack was open slightly, and in the inside, I could see apples, cans, and bits of scrap metal for him to snack on. In his pocket were a set of reed pipes. According to Grover his dad had made then for him before he was born, though he only knew two songs: Mozart's piano concerto no. 12 and Hillary Duff's 'So Yesterday' which both sounded terrible on reed pipes. I had to ask him to stop playing when Adamos began to threaten to turn him into a meat toboggan. (Meat toboggan. Get that thought out of your head) I honestly had to agree with him. The stopping him, not the meat toboggan. Grover was not the most musically gifted satyr it seemed.

We waved good bye to the other campers and took one last look at camp. Chiron was just a bit away from us, sitting in his wheelchair, next to the large pine tree that protected the camp. Next to him was the surfer looking guy that I caught a glimpse of from the infirmary. According to Grover this was Argus, the head of security for camp. I remembered the myth about him. He was a hundred eyed giant that guarded something that I couldn't remember, but he couldn't be snuck up on cause of all the eyes. He was currently wearing a chauffeur suit, but when I got a good look at him, I noticed the eyes on his hands, neck and face.

"I hope you are all prepared. Argus here," Chiron said, motioning to the man. "will drive you into the city when you are."

Behind me I heard panting and the sound of footsteps. Turning I see Luke coming up the hill carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

"Hey," He said, slightly winded from running up hill. "Glad I caught you." Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Annabeth was blushing like she always did when Luke was around. "Just wanted to say good luck, and I thought that you could use these." He handed me the pair of sneakers that were in his hands. They didn't look all that amazing, just a normal pair of shoes, but then Luke shouted, "Maia!", and white bird wings sprouted out of the heels. That startled me and I dropped the winged shoes and they fell, only to stop and hover a foot off the ground before Luke took them again and said the phrase again, making the shoes turn to normal.

"Awesome." Grover said.

Adamos however didn't agree. **"Some things off with these shoes."**

"_What do you mean?"_

"**Try to feel it Percy. There's magic on these shoes and it's not from Hermes or any of his kids." **

I focus and try to feel for the magic. You see over the course of learning magic, or at least the one spell, I had begun to be able to sense magic. Although I couldn't really sense much without touching the object and even then, my sense wasn't all that great. I 'looked' at the shoe and found nothing at first before I felt a slight difference. I didn't know what it was, but my gut was telling me that it wasn't originally apart of the shoe. _"Is it something dangerous?"_

"**Currently no, but I can't seem to figure out what spell it is. The only thing that I know is that 1) the spell is dormant, so it won't activate until something happens, and 2) The spell isn't anything lethal, so it won't spontaneously combust or anything like that, but these are definitely cursed, by someone very good no less. I'm not even surprised Dionysus and Chiron can't sense it, that's how well made this spell is."**

"_Well that's good to know." _I think before looking back to Luke. "Thanks man." I told him, hiding the strain in my voice.

"Listen Percy…" Luke said looking uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just…kill some monsters for me, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." I said. Then we shook hands, and he patted Grover on the head, and gave a good-bye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she was about to pass out.

After Luke left, I told her, "You look like you're hyperventilating"

"Am not."

"Your red face says otherwise."

"Oh… why do I put up with you Percy?" she says in exasperation, before stomping down the side of the hill, towards the white SUV sitting on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed her, jingling his keys.

Looking at the shoes the bad feeling I got grew more. I looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these will I?"

"No, I fear that would be unwise." Chiron said.

"_**Hey Grover, you want a magic item?" **_Adamos shouts out with my voice.

"_What?! No!" _I mentally scream at him for the random outburst, barely keeping myself from actually screaming out loud.

Grover's eyes however lit up. "Me?"

"**Hah. Now you're bound by societal convention to give him the gift, unless you want to look like a jerk."** Adamos snickers.

"_You know you can be a real ass at times."_ I mentally respond.

"**Ah he'll be fine. The curse isn't lethal and I'm sure you'll save him…probably."**

"_Your confidence in me is so astounding." _I mentally deadpan. I then turn back to Grover and give him a strained smile. "Yeah. I can't use them so I thought that you would like them." I say slightly strained, however he doesn't seem to notice, as he looks over the shoes. He then puts them on ever his fake feet and the worlds first aerial goat boy was born.

"Maia!" He shouted, and wings sprouted from out of the heels. He got up off the ground, but then fell over and the winged shoes took off, dragging Grover behind them down the hill. Adamos was just laughing his ass off at Grover's misfortune, I was trying to stifle a chuckle at the comedic scene. Annabeth looked like she was chuckling as well from the bottom of the hill.

"Practice!" Chiron shouted after him. "You just need practice!"

Before I could follow Grover, though I was going to walk, Chiron grabbed my arm. "Percy, I should have trained you better. Hercules, Jason-they all got more training before the went on their quests."

I gave him an understanding look. He didn't know that I had been training extra hard for this exact thing. "It's alright Chiron, we didn't have a lot of time anyways and you did the best you could."

Chiron smiles at this before his expression changes. "What am I thinking?" He cried out. "I can't send you off with out giving you this." He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It looked like a cheap ball point pen that you could find at any penny store.

"This is a pen," I said, but the smile never lifted from his face. "This. Is. A. Pen. Is it supposed to be a pen is mightier kind of thing?" I say sarcastically.

Chiron chuckles. "Percy this is a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But much has been made clear to me and I am confident that you are the one."

I looked at the pen in my hand. It looked familiar. As I rattle my brain for the memories, I scan the object for magic, only to find the thing coated in magical properties. It gave off a feeling, like the ocean itself was in the pen. I then took off the pen cap and it grew longer and heavier. In less than a second the pen morphed into a long double-edged bronze sword. The most noticeable thing was that it actually felt balanced in my hands. I look closer trying to figure it out before it clicks in my head. This was the same sword that I used to kill Ms. Dodds. In me I feel Adamos stiffen as the sword forms before going back to normal, but I brush it off.

"This sword has a long and tragic history that we don't have time to go into," Chiron said, eyeing the blade. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"Riptide." I whispered as my mind translated the Ancient Greek.

"**The current that takes one by surprise and drags them out to sea."** Adamos says in a whispery voice.

"Indeed," Chiron says with a smile. "A blade to only be used for emergencies, and only against monsters. A hero should always try to avoid harming mortals unless absolutely necessary, but then again the blade wouldn't harm mortals anyways."

"Why not?" I ask as I look over the wickedly sharp sword.

"The sword is made of celestial bronze, forged by the cyclopes smiths, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the waters of the River Lethe. The blade is deadly to any mythological being, but it will pass through mortals as they aren't important enough for the blade to harm. But as a demigod, you are susceptible to the blade as well as mortal weapons. I urge caution Percy."

"Good to know." I say.

"Now recap the pen." He says and I comply. I touched the pen cap to the tip of the of the sword and it shrunk down to its pen form. I tucked the pen in my pocket. "Another feature that the sword possess is that the pen is enchanted so it will always return to its owner. Try tossing it over there."

With a raised brow I tossed the pen down the hill.

"Give it a second." Chiron said. "Then look into your pocket."

As I reach to pocket and feel around, and sure enough it was there. "That's pretty cool, but does it only work with this pair of pants?" I joke.

Chiron chuckles. "No, I believe that the enchantment works with all forms of pants."

The quest now was finally happening. We had a prophecy, quest mates, supplies, a goal, and now magic sword. Now all that was left to do was to take that first step. But something was nagging me in the back of my head. That little voice that everyone has. Doubt.

"Chiron." I say. "The gods are immortal right?"

He gives me an inquisitive look. "Yes, Percy the gods are immortal."

"So even if I fail then everything will be alright. Right?"

Chiron gave me a melancholic smile. "No one knows how long the reign of the gods will last Percy. The titans who ruled before during their self-proclaimed golden age were also immortal. Yet they were over thrown and now reside in various prisons undertaking punishment, but they are still very much alive. Although I fear the day it comes, but whose to say that the gods won't one day be overthrown. But Fates forbid that ever happen or we might return to an age of darkness and chaos much like the titan age. All we can do is follow our paths and do the best we can."

"**Wise words." **Adamos simply says.

"Our own paths." I say with a deep breathe.

"Yes and remember to keep calm and have a clear head. Your about to stop one of the most destructive wars in human history." Chiron said with an uplifting tone.

"You know you had me there for a second and then you said that." I deadpan.

"Sorry Percy, sometimes I forget that not all of my advice is so uplifting."

"I think you should keep an eye on Luke, Chiron." I say quietly after a few moments of silence.

Chiron gives me a speculative look before talking. "You think he could be—"

"I hope not." I say cutting him off, "I just…have a feeling that I can't shake."

He nodded "I will watch over him."

"Thank you." I said. I give him a smile and walked down the hill. As I reach the bottom I look back at the top of the hill. Chiron was standing at the top in his full centaur form, holding his bow up high in a form of salute.

**Line break**

Argus drove us out of the countryside and back into the civilized part of Long Island. As we were on the on the highway I was watching as the signs rolled past us.

"**You doing okay?"** Adamos said.

"_Yeah, it's just—"_

"**Just what?"**

"_You've told me I was going on a quest for a while now, and I thought that I was prepared, but now that it's happening. It feels so real that I feel like I'm gonna fail."_

"**That's just first-time jitters talking. Everyone gets those, even us gods feel nervous about things from time to time.****I mean you should of seen me when I went on my first quest. I was freaking out." **Adamos chuckles.

"_You went on a quest?"_ I say with a mentally raised brow.

"**I went on a few quests actually, but the first ones were the most nerve wracking."**

"_What did you do?"_

"**Oh where do I start?"** Adamos muses. **"Well I guess a little history lesson is needed to understand. Maybe I'll show you it later in a dream or something when we have the time. Any ways it all started when I was born during the first ten years of the Titanomachy."**

"_Wait. First ten? I thought that you said that the Titanomachy was only ten years?"_ I question.

"**The Titanomachy was actually a little over twenty years. The first decade was more akin to a cold war rather than actual fighting. Dad, our uncles and aunts were in hiding after Zeus freed them from their fathers' stomach. A little around a year into their hiding Dad meet my mom and I was born and was brought to be raised by our aunts and uncles. Well mostly Dad and, Hera, and Hestia, though I did spend quite a bit of time with Uncle Hades. Anyways I grew up and reached the physical age of sixteen in about three years."**

"_Wait how does that work?"_

"**We gods mature at a much faster rate than mortals. Anyway, at the rate we were gathering power for the war, it didn't look all that promising. I mean we had powerful nature spirits, some Titans and Titaness's, and a few minor gods that were born after me, but it didn't seem like we had a large chance at victory. But our chance at victory came in the form of three unexpected potential allies."**

"_How can three gods turn an entire war?"_

"**Never underestimate the impact that a single person can have in any situation Percy. Doesn't matter the what, whether it be the death of someone or the rise, they can change things for everyone." ** Adamos says, his voice taking a serious tone.

"_O—ok, um, who were these people?"_

After a moment passed Adamos spoke again, his voice going back to normal. **"The primordials Nyx, Gaia, and Pontus."**

"_I thought that Gaia hated the Olympians? Why would she help them?"_

"**At the time she didn't. She was actually against Kronos' rule at that point and wanted him dethroned due to how chaotic the world became. It didn't help that the some of the other titans did things to piss off Nyx and Pontus. But Gaia, being the ever-loving mother, convinced her siblings not to kill her children, but rather have us fix their problems for them."**

"_You know this sounds pretty familiar." _I think sarcastically.

"**Yes, yes the humor of the situation isn't lost on me." **Adamos says in a deadpan. **"Anyways in return for our help with their problems they offered their aid in the war effort, and we weren't about to turn down the offer."**

"_That sounds like it would make the war easy?"_

"**You'd think so but like us gods the primordials also have laws that they must abide by, so they couldn't fight with us literally. Instead they offered us information, safe passage, supplies, and Pontus even ran interference and made sure Oceanus stayed out of the war."**

"_Well that's actually some pretty good incentives. And with the seven of you I bet you got that done pretty quickly."_

"**Actually, only I was chosen to go on the quests."**

"_What? Why? Wouldn't it have made more sense for all the gods to solve it? I mean if they wanted it taken care of that seems like it would be easier." _

"**Oddly enough I said something quite similar when they said it. But according to them the titans didn't actually know I existed other than my mother, so they didn't want all the titan forces bearing down on us all at once if we did it together. So, I had to go alone."**

"_That sounds like it sucks to do it alone." _

"**Well it sort of did but I find help along the way and they did give me a few things to make it easier. But I think that's enough for now. I can tell you more later."**

"_Aw don't just cut it off like that"_

"**Sorry Percy, but there's this thing called story pacing."**

"_That's stupid."_

"**Well you shouldn't rush a craftsman in the middle of his work, I mean if I stretch it out, I might make it to six seasons and a movie."**

"_Why that specifically?" _

"**No reason."**

"_Are you at least going to finish the story in the future?"_

"**I would be shamed if I didn't."**

"_Whatever." _ I internally think as Adamos goes back to whatever he does in my head. I look over to the other two passengers sitting in the car. Grover was in the front seat messing with his reed pipes, Annabeth was on the opposite side of the back seat with me.

"So far so good." I say to Annabeth trying to start a conversation. "Not a single monster yet."

She gave me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk like that Seaweed brain."

"Ok what's your deal." I said, growing angry at the unwarranted hostility. "You've been acting really rude since the capture the flag game."

"You mean the same game where you almost killed me with a shield?" She retorted.

"Yeah that one where you used me as bait for five Ares campers." I shot back. "But seriously, why do you hate me?"

"I don't hate you." She said as much of the tension in her voice left.

"Could have fooled me." I said with an eye roll.

She began to fiddle with her invisibility cap. "Look… we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

"Why?"

She sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful."

"**That was not a good day." **Adamos interjected.

"Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be patron god of the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid salt water spring for his gift."

"**Yes, because a saltwater spring that predicts safe conditions at sea is stupid." **

"My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."

"**There's so much of that story that was cut out." **Adamos said in disappointment. I don't bother asking him because I had a feeling that he wasn't going to talk.

"They must have really loved olives to name a city after her."

Annabeth sighs. "Oh, forget it."

"You know if she had invented pizza then I would understand." I say while stroking my chin.

"I said forget it!" Up in the front seat Grover just chuckled at our argument. Argus meanwhile smiled, he didn't say anything but instead the eye on the back of his neck blinked? —winked? —I don't know, it did something.

The rest of the car ride was in mostly in silence. By the time we got to the Greyhound bus station on the Upper East Side the sun was setting, and rain clouds had begun to gather. Taped to a nearby mail box was a soggy flyer with my picture that read: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?

I quickly ripped the flyer down before the others could see it. But they seemed to be gathered around Argus as he took our bags from out of the back of the car before driving off. I took a look around and noticed some familiar areas. I realized just how close we were to my mom's apartment. The same place where Gabe probably was, drinking and being a complete asshole and not caring about my mom.

"You're thinking of your mom." Grover said from behind me.

"How'd you know?" I ask, turning to face him.

"We satyrs can read emotions. I could feel your emotions and they only flux like that when your thinking about your mom and Gabe." If he could feel my emotions, I began to think of what else he might have left out.

"**He can't read your emotions all the time. I've been covering yours with fake emotions. I'm not letting my plan go under because of a stupid satyr."**

"Its alright Grover I'm fine. Just realized how close we are to the apartment." I say and Grover nods in understanding before walking of to a nearby bench. _"Why are you always so mean to him?" _

"**He knows what his kind did." **Adamos says through grit teeth.

"_Dude you have issues." _I think to him before walking to the bench that both Grover and Annabeth were on.

The rain kept coming down. Pretty soon we got restless and started to play hacky sack with an apple from Grover's back pack. Adamos was busy playing music to pass the time. Annabeth and I were doing really well. We were bouncing it off our knees, elbows, and feet before our game ended when the apple got to close to Grover's mouth. The apple disappeared in one bite.

Grover blushed and began to apologize. Annabeth and I were both cracking up. Then finally the bus pulled up to the station.

"**Percy, we got company, of the monster variety." **Adamos warnsas we get in line to board.

"_Here? Now? It hasn't even been ten minutes since Argus dropped us off. Can you tell what it is?"_

"**Three signatures nearby, but I can't tell what kind they are."**

"_Can we out run them."_

"**No to close. Were going to have to figure something out on the bus."**

"_What about the mortals?" _I ask worriedly.

"**They won't attack the mortals. They'll mostly focus us"**

I take a deep breathe and mentally prepare myself for the fight that might take place. _"Can we take them. In the confined space?"_

"**If we can come up with a plan to catch them off guard. We can't afford not to take the bus, it's the last one on the schedule and the next one isn't until tomorrow and we're on a timetable. We'll have to risk it." **

I look over to Grover, seeing him stiffen and begin to look around. His face looked nervous before as he sniffed the air around him before settling down.

"What is it?" I asked though I already knew the answer.

"I don't know, maybe it's nothing." He said tensely.

"If it's a maybe, I think we should keep an eye out." I said.

"What are you two talking about?" Annabeth said cutting into our conversation.

"Grover thinks that somethings close." I explain.

"A monster? How many?" She questions Grover.

"I—I don't know." Grover backs away as Annabeth gets too close.

"Huh, maybe we can lose them when we get on the bus. If Grover is having a hard time smelling them than maybe they are far enough away that they haven't caught our scent either. This is the last bus on the schedule, so we won't have any way out of the city if it leaves." Annabeth mused, coming to the same conclusion as Adamos. "I think we should just leave on the bus."

"Sure, sounds as good a plan as any." I say back, while Grover just nods.

We got on board the bus finally and found three seats together in the back of the bus. We stowed our backpacks. Annabeth's leg was bouncing furiously as she fiddled with her Yankee's cap. "Percy." She said in a tense whisper as she eyes the front of the bus.

Three old ladies boarded the bus. They were all wearing the same clothing. Matching crumpled velvet dresses, lace gloves, and large knit-hats in different colors that covered their faces. What made me catch my breath was the one in the front wearing an orange hat. I recognized that face. It was Mrs. Dodds.

I scrunched down into my seat, trying to make myself as small as possible.

"_I'm taking a guess that they're the monsters."_

"**Yeah, all three furies. Hades must have accelerated her reforming."**

The old ladies sat in the front row, just behind the driver. Two of the ladies extended their legs making an X in the middle of the aisle. The message came clear. No one passes.

The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed down the streets of Manhattan. "I thought that one was bad, but three! Why does the universe hate me?" I whisper.

"Di Immortales." Grover whimpered. "All three of them."

"It's ok. It's just the furies. The three worst monsters in the underworld. No problem. Cool. We can, uh, slip out the windows."

"They don't open." Grover said.

"A back exit?" She suggested.

"There isn't one." I say.

"**No emergency back exit, windows that don't open. Who designed this bus? This bus violates so many safety laws." **Adamos says in disbelief.

"_Why is that your focus? Shouldn't you be helping come up with a plan.?"_

"**Working on it."**

I turn to Annabeth and whisper to her. "They aren't going to attack us with so many witnesses, right?" I was silently hoping she would say we were safe.

"Mortal eyes aren't very good." Annabeth whispered back. "The mist will cover what they do so that they won't see what's really happening."

"So, will they see us being killed by old ladies?" I said dryly, as my hopes are thrown out the unopening windows.

She began to think. "Hard to say what the mortals see exactly, but we can't count on the mortals interfering."

"_Hey, you think you could do that mind trick that you used on Annabeth on them?"_

"**It won't work, they're from the underworld. Their minds are stronger than a demigod's. But maybe if you can sneak behind them."**

"_But how am I going… Annabeth's hat!"_

"**Right. Now we just have to convince her to give it to us."**

During our planning the bus finally went through a tunnel. Everything went dark, with only the flashes of lights coming from the dim lighting of the tunnel roof. The sound of rain subsided, leaving an eerie quiet. Mrs. Dodds rose from her seat. In a flat voice that betrayed no emotion she spoke aloud, "I need to use the restroom."

"So do I." Said the two other sisters, their voices in the same tone. As one the made their way down the aisle.

"Annabeth give me your hat." I whispered to her after Adamos and I came up with a plan.

"What?" She whispered back. The flickering of the tunnel lights through the windows causing her eyes to look darker as she bore into my own.

"I'm the one that killed her last time so they'll be looking for me, but if I use your hat to get to one of the seats further up, we can ambush them after they pass me."

"You seriously want to fight all three furies?" She said with a skeptical look.

"It's either that or jumping through the window and taking our chances with the pavement." I said.

Annabeth's gaze flickered between me and some of the windows of the bus. No doubt weighing her options of survival and the probability of walking away from a tuck and roll from a bus going fifty miles an hour down a highway.

"All right here." She says, handing me the hat. "I'll fill Grover in, you get going."

I give her a quick nod, before putting the cap on. Instantly my body vanishes, and I spend a second looking at my hands, which were now gone. I shake my head and start to make my way up the aisle before Adamos stops me.

"**Percy grab our back pack, we can't leave it behind."** He says. I turn around and grab the handle at the top of the back pack. As I lift it, it then vanishes, the only indicator that it still existed was the feel of the material in my hand. Putting my arms through the straps I sneak to one of the empty seats in the middle row.

Mrs. Dodds started to sniff as she stopped near my row. She looked around, her eyes landing on where I was and staying there a bit longer. My heart was pounding so loud that I could hear it in my ears. Mrs. Dodds gaze stayed on where I was before turning away and walking down the aisle once more, her ugly sisters following right behind her. I silently let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding.

I made to get out of my seat to sneak up on the three when I heard a horrifying wail. My head peeked out from the seat and looked down the aisle to see that the three old ladies were no longer in disguise. Their bodies had shriveled, their hands had grown nasty claws, and the handbags they carried were replaced with flaming whips.

The three Furies had cornered Annabeth and Grover. Their voices resembling a hiss as they each screeched out: "Where is it? Where?"

The people on the bus were cowering in fear at the display, as they definitely saw something horrible, and as to what I don't know. But with them all scooching to the walls of the bus, this left the aisle completely free as I snuck up to the Furies. I felt Adamos flooding my body with his godly power. Knowledge began to enter my head and I was instinctively stalking silently, like a predator.

"He's not here." I hear Annabeth shout. "He left."

To the Furies however, this is not the answer they wanted, as the each raised their whips.

At this I took my chance and uncapped my new sword 'Riptide' and swung. With the one swing I managed to slash through the Fury that was closest to me, decapitating her. She let out a pained roar as her body exploded into gold dust. This drew the attention of the other two as they turned to the direction of the assailant. Me.

Seeing as I didn't need it any more, I took of Annabeth's hat and held it on one hand, my sword in the other.

"Remember me?" I said hoping to sound confident and not at all as terrified as I actually was.

"PERCY JACKSON!" Mrs. Dodds screeched at me. With their attention now focused on me Annabeth took the chance to draw her bronze dagger and jump onto the back of one of the Mrs. Dodds' remaining sister. Stabbing wherever she can as the Fury tried to ram her back into anything she could as well as try to rake her with her claws. Grover was pelting them with cans and apples.

Mrs. Dodds didn't even look back, either to consumed with anger at me or just not caring I didn't know.

"Hades shall have your soul!" She screeched as she raised her whip and flung the flaming tendril forward. I was feeling my mind go into overdrive and my instincts flaring and I ducked as the whip snapped with a shower of sparks over my head. I got up, only for Mrs. Dodds to strike again, but this time I didn't have time to dodge.

"QUEN!" I shout out the spell as I try to block the whip with Riptide, only for it to wrap around my arm. A golden barrier was flaring and straining around my sword arm. Even with the spell I could feel the heat from the flames, while it wasn't burning it was painfully hot. The heat began to seep through more as the shield began to break.

"**Percy! Brace yourself I'm gonna do something."** Adamos shouted in my head, but I only barely heard him.

I tighten my grip on my sword and Annabeth's hat, using my forearms to brace against the back of the seat I was next to. Next thing I know was a loud boom coming from the front of the bus, and a sudden jerking to one side. Adamos just blew out one of the front tires.

The driver of the bus, who was watching what was happening through the rear-view mirror quickly lost control and began to jerk the wheel around as the bus hit the side of the tunnel. Cars were shoved out of the way as the driver barreled through an exit and onto a rural road.

The shaking caused the Fury that Annabeth was riding to fall into one of the empty seats. Annabeth took this chance and luckily stabbed the Fury in the neck, turning her to gold dust. Grover was knocked back into our seats. I, meanwhile, managed to stay standing, but Mrs. Dodds wasn't as lucky. The sudden swerving combined with the wet roads was to much and she lost her balance, hitting the window of the bus with a loud crack, making her drop the whip and fall down.

The driver finally having enough, pulled off the road and used the emergency brake. This brought the bus to a screeching halt next to a densely packed forest. The driver was the first one out, followed by the stampede of passengers.

In the distance I heard thunder rumble.

"**Percy, we have to move now!"** Adamos shouted in my head. Completely agreeing as I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"Guys! We gotta go!" I shout to Annabeth and Grover. Neither argued as we rushed out of the bus. Grover kicking Mrs. Dodds' whip away as she tried to reach for it while getting back to her feet.

We rushed out side to find the other passengers freaking out and arguing with the driver. A Hawaiian shirted tourist somehow managed to snap a picture of me with my sword in one hand and Annabeth's hat in the other as we got off the bus.

"Wait! Our bags." Grover realized. "We left our—"

A loud boom was heard and then the bus exploded. The passengers ran for cover. We could only look on in horror as the large bolt of lightning tore apart the top of the bus. But a loud wail from inside was all I needed to know that Mrs. Dodds was still alive.

"We gotta run." Annabeth said. "She's calling for help. We need to get out of here"

With that we took off into the nearby forest. The bus in flames and the rain pouring down around us. We vanished into the dark of the forest.

**A/N: Ahoy! welcome aboard the S.S. Adamos gentle sirs and madams. This is Capt. Momentei speaking to you all. I would like to thank all you wonderful people for liking this story. It really makes my week. Now onto the reviews corner. One of you brought up the good point that I'm making Percy completely reliant on Adamos for everything. This is actually true for the most part. This is only the beginning of the story and Percy is still a twelve-year-old boy that is new to the whole thing. I mean if you were told that your life was a lie and to go kill something. Then in comes Adamos who says, hey I can teach you all of this and even do some of it for you. Wouldn't you take that deal? But anyways I want Percy to slowly become more independent over time yet still rely on Adamos somewhat. As for how, well that doesn't happen till later. Another thing is about the concerns with me making Annabeth a bitch. I'm actually not. In order better understand the characters I reread the entire first book and this is how cannon Annabeth acts in the books. In this I have a TV show reference that I hope you can find. Who ever does gets a cookie if they leave the answer in the reviews. Anyways I do appreciate any constructive criticism from you all. Leave a review and I'll most likely read it. **


	12. Chapter 11:Monster Hunter

Percy speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

_**Adamos speaking**_

**Adamos thoughts.**

**All characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 11**

**Percy Jackson: Monster Hunter Extrordinaire **

It had seemed like hours since we left the bus as we trudged through the forest, and I had given Annabeth her hat back. It was quiet for the most part, the only sound being the Hudson river that ran along side us. Adamos had told me we were in New Jersey based on the trees, stars, and a bunch of other things that I didn't really understand.

Behind us I could still see the lights of the city glowing, making the sky a yellow sunset, even after the sun had set. And the Hudson was letting off a smell that reminded me of rotting eggs and Gabe. Needless to say, we were not happy campers right now.

Grover was trembling as we walked. He was braying and muttering over and over "All three Furies. All at once."

I myself was just trying to focus on where we were going. Adamos's night domain has been becoming surprisingly useful lately as it was allowing me to see in the dark with perfect clarity. It might as well have been the middle of the day. Annabeth however was leading us from the front, never once looking back as she kept saying, "Come on! The further we get the better."

"Do you even know where your going?" I ask.

"Doesn't matter. As long as we get away from the monsters." Annabeth shot back.

"And our bags, with our food, and our money and—" Grover started.

"Shut it goat boy." Annabeth said.

Grover Brayed mournfully still. "And all my tin cans…so many perfectly good tin cans."

We continued to walk through the sloshy ground, the smell of the Hudson becoming stronger, and the branches of the trees poking and hitting us as we ducked and moved out of the way.

"**Ugh," **Adamos says with disgust. **"The mortals have really let the world go to shit over the millennia. Going to have to work on all of this."**

"_What are you going to do?" _

"**Purify the place. So much of it is dying because the mortals refuse to care. But there not the only ones." **Adamos says in a solemn tone

I was about to ask what he meant when Annabeth slowed down enough to fall in line next to me. "You know," She spoke. "That was a pretty decent plan you had back there."

"Oh," I blush slightly at the compliment, but it wasn't visible in the dark. "Thanks. But I bet you could have come up with something better."

"Probably… but it's good to know that I don't have to watch over you the entire time." Annabeth said.

"Wait? Why would you need to look out for me?" I question.

Annabeth was silent for a few moments "It's just that if you died… other that sucking for you, it would mean that the quest was over**. **This may be my only chance at seeing the world."

"I'm so glad you care that I survived." I say dryly.

"Look its not that… it's just that quests are the only way for demigods to get out and prove themselves. To see if we are any good. Chiron often calls us heroes at camp but sometimes it doesn't feel that way."

"So this is your first time outside of camp?" I ask. The thunderstorm finally stopping. The lights from the city were fading away and causing the area to darken. If I didn't have Adamos's night vision I had no doubt that I would be blind.

"No there were a few short field trips with my dad." Annabeth says as she begins to finger a ring on her necklace.

"But aren't you a year around camper. I mean couldn't you just come to camp in the summer and live with your dad?" I say.

Annabeth's face contorts into a grimace. Her hand clutches the ring in a vice like grip. I immediately knew that I may have just tripped a landmine. "It'd never work." She says tensely. "He has his new family, and they've made it very clear that they don't want me around."

"Well I don't mind having you around." I say, trying to look apologetic in the dark. "I mean that your pretty good with that knife."

"You think so?" She says. She was no longer as tense, probably glad for the change in subject.

"Yeah, I mean you piggy backed a Fury. That's gotta count for something." I said. Annabeth just gave me a smile in return, it wasn't a big one, but it seemed to be enough to better her mood. "And besides its not a total loss. I mean I still have my back pack."

"Yeah your right. We might be able to—" She started to say but was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot that came from behind us.

"**Gah. It's like one drill in one ear and another drill in the other, and they're meeting in the middle." **Adamos complains in annoyance

I put my hands over my ears to block out the sound. _"Sounds more like someone's torturing an owl."_

"Hey, my reed pipes work!" Grover cried out in glee. "Now if only I could remember a 'find path' song we could get out of these woods!" He said as he began to play a song on the pipes.

"Grover, buddy, I don't think that your song is gonna—WOAH!" I said as I suddenly trip over a root that wasn't there a second ago. Annabeth was chuckling at my misfortune until she walked straight into a tree. After that Annabeth and I both came to an agreement that Grover should keep his playing to a minimum. We kept walking for about a mile in the woods before Adamos came up again.

"**Another monster Percy."**

"_Seriously!" _I thought. I didn't care if I sounded whiney right now I was sick of today. _"Are we just magnets for stuff!?"_

"**Well actually your more like—" **

"_I was being rhetorical!"_

"**You know I should be mad, but you just used rhetorical correctly, so I'll let that go."**

"_Can you just tell me where it is so we can go in the opposite direction." _I think.

"**Now, now I think we should seek this one out." **Adamos says trying to calm me down. **"I have a good idea which monster this is so I think that we can use her if we can kill her."**

"_Do you at least have a plan?" _

"**I have twenty percent of a plan. Well it's more of an idea really." **Adamos says offhandedly.

"_You're not inspiring a lot of confidence here."_

"**I'm kidding, of course I have a plan. I always have something up my sleeve. But you should get ready if it's her we'll only get one chance at killing her."**

Immediately my nose is assaulted with delicious smells. It was the smell of burgers, fries, and other things of greasy goodness. I look up to see a red neon sign in the distance. My mouth begins to water at the thought of the food. The camp food was good, I wasn't going to lie but it was all healthy lean cut meant, vegetables, fruit and cheeses. Heck even the drinks seemed to be healthier. But none of it had anything on a good old fashion cheeseburger.

I looked over at Annabeth and she seemed to have smelt the food too. We made our further until we came across a deserted two-lane road. On the other side of the road was a lone open business, indicated by the glowing neon sign. The smell of the food was coming from inside the building.

Although it wasn't actually a fast food place like I had hoped. Instead it was one of those curio shops that sold cement statues and garden knick-knacks.

"_The one time I'm actually excited for a monster, and my hopes are thrown out the window."_

"**What were you expecting? A monster McDonalds?"**

"_Honestly, yeah. I mean McDonalds is everywhere. But noooo, we had to come across an oversized gift shop. Like what does it even say?" _I think as I look at the neon sign, glaring at my age-old enemy. Cursive.

"**It says Auntie Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." **Adamos fills in.

Grover repeats the name aloud for us, since we seemed to just be staring at the sign, he's probably assuming we had trouble reading it. On the sides of the door under the sign were two ugly little cement gnomes smiling at us. We began to cross the street.

"Hey…" Grover tried to warn.

"The lights are on inside. Maybe we can ask for help." Annabeth said.

"Yeah maybe they can even let us have some food?" I said, though I was constantly having to remind myself that a monster lived there. The thought of food kept trying to claw its way to the front of my mind

"This place seems weird you guys." Grover says trembling.

Annabeth just ignored him, with me following directly. The front lot was littered with many statues. Statues of animals, people, and even a satyr were all around us.

Grover bleated. "He looks like my uncle Ferdinand." We just continued walking until we came to the front of the warehouse. "Don't knock." Grover said. "I smell monsters."

"Your nose is just clogged up from the Furies." Annabeth told him.

"Yeah man. I mean can't you just smell the burgers." I said.

"I'm a vegetarian." Grover said heatedly. "I don't eat meat."

"Don't you eat those cheese enchiladas?" I say.

"Those are vegetables."

I thought vegetarians don't eat cheese since it's dairy." Annabeth muttered.

"Lets just leave. These statues are giving me the creeps." Grover said as his eyes darted around.

I was about to respond when the door began to creak open. In front of us was a tall middle eastern looking woman—or at least I think so, since she was wearing a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled.

"**What she's wearing is known as a hijab while the full headdress is called a burqa." **Adamos said, spouting off information like a tour guide.

"Children," her voice was smooth and sounded vaguely middle eastern as well. "it is too late to be out all alone, where are your parents?"

"They're…um…" Annabeth started to stutter out.

"We're orphans." I blurted.

"Orphans?" She said but it sounded strange coming out of here mouth "Surely you aren't?"

"Yeah we just got lost from the foster family we live with. Our foster parents said that if we got lost to meet them at the gas station, but I think they meant a different gas station." I lied. "Hey is that food I smell." I say trying to switch the subject.

"Oh my dears. You must come in, you poor children. I am Aunty Em." The woman said. "Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."

We thanked her and walked into the warehouse. Inside the warehouse was filled with more statues. They were on all standing in different poses, their faces with different expressions. These statues were all life size, and it seemed like their eyes were following ou1`r every move, which only added to the realism.

Grover was nervously whimpering behind us. What nearly set me off though was the small click sound that I heard from behind. The sound of a door being locked.

"**Just keep walking. Don't let her know that we're on to her."**

I keep walking, keeping my eyes focused on the path in front. And ever the smell of the food was getting stronger. The thoughts of what kind of food was getting much harder to keep away. I looked over at Annabeth, her eyes were a bit glazed and unfocused as we found our way to the back of the warehouse. What we found was basically a diner. There was a fast food counter, a soda dispenser, blenders on top of a glass door fridge that contained ice cream, a nacho cheese dispenser. There were also steel picnic tables around so we could eat.

"**This," **Adamos said. **"This is why the backpack has unlimited space. We are so stealing this shit after we kill the old lady."**

"_Why do you have to say it like that? Gods now I feel horrible."_

"**She's a monster. It's not like she'll care once she's dead."**

"_Why do you always have to make everything sound horrible."_

"**I'm only telling the truth." **Adamos says with a shrug.

"Please it would be my pleasure to feed such nice orphans," Auntie Em said, bringing my attention back. "Its my treat. I insist." She leads us over to the steel picnic tables, where we take seats.

Thank you, ma'am." Annabeth says politely. However, Auntie Em stiffened at the sound of Annabeth's voice. I vaguely heard a hissing sound before it died down as Auntie Em relaxed.

"Quite all right Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful grey eyes my dear." Auntie Em then left, disappearing behind the counter.

"_I don't remember ever introducing ourselves." _I think nervously, my fingers beginning to tap on the steel table top.

"**You didn't." **Adamos says darkly. **"Someone told her you were coming." **

"_Any way we can find out who?"_

Adamos sighs. **"If we had a way to restrain her, I would interrogate her about it, but we don't. Were just going to have to push that problem back for now. If she was told I'm sure that others were as well."**

Auntie Em returned carrying trays layered with food. There were double cheeseburgers, milkshakes, and extra fries. Annabeth and I were devouring the food without stopping. Walking through those woods had made us hungrier than either of us realized. Grover just picked at the fries, only eating a few of them at a time while eyeing the wax paper, but he seemed too nervous to eat.

"What's that hissing noise?" He asked. I listened and could hear it. It was louder than before but still faint. Annabeth just shook her head before digging into her fries.

"Hissing? Perhaps you hear the deep fryer in the back. You have keen ears Grover." Auntie Em complimented.

"I take vitamins. For my ears." Grover said in a rehearsed tone.

"**I think it's time we snuck away. Ask to go to the restroom."** Adamos instructs.

"Um… Auntie Em." I ask after I finish my burger and half my fries and shake.

"Yes Percy?" She says, her voice smooth and alluring. It was making me feel relaxed.

"Would you mind pointing me to the restroom?"

"Oh of course." She says with a clap of her hands. "Anything for such a nice, handsome young man like you. It is just through those doors," She points behind her. "First door on the left."

"Thank you." I say getting up. Annabeth only gave me a glance while Grover was trembling once more, his eyes darting between me and Auntie Em. I walk through the doors and make it into the bathroom.

"_Are you sure that we need to kill her? She seems so nice." _

"**She's a monster Percy. You need to kill her or else she'll kill someone else."**

"_Maybe we can just escape."_ I try to sound optimistic about the idea. I didn't mean for it to sound like running away but Auntie Em has been nothing but nice to us so I still felt bad about killing her.

"**She locked the door. And besides now that she has Annabeth, she's not letting her go."**

"_Why would she want Annabeth?" _

"**You haven't figured out who she is yet." **He said in a tone that made me feel a bit dumb.

"_No." _I think sheepishly.

"**The statues, that hissing sounds, the fact that her face is hidden. Think about it." **Adamos says. I think back to the statues that we passed. Their faces becoming clearer. Their faces were all contorted into faces of fear. The hissing sounds. Auntie Em. Auntie M.

"_Medusa." _

"**Yes. We can't leave her alive. Her mere gaze kills and since Annabeth's mother is Athena—"**

"_She's going to kill her." _I finish his thought. Now I was incredibly worried since we just left her and Grover in the hands of a dangerous monster. _"How do I kill her?" _

"**You need to decapitate her."**

"_Decapitate?" _I think nervously.

"**Yes decapitate. I need her head for something so that's what we're going to do."**

"_Any way you can go without it?"_

"**Nope. I need that head so your going to chop it off."**

"_Why do you like to make things harder than they need to be?" _I say dryly.

"**Because it wouldn't be fun otherwise."**

"All right let's get this over with." I say as I pull out my pen, turning it into a sword after I uncap it. I slowly creep out of the bathroom and look out the double doors that lead back to the picnic tables. Annabeth, Grover, and Auntie Em—I mean Medusa are all still sitting at the table, with Medusa talking about a boyfriend that she used to have.

I sneak out the two doors, hoping that Medusa would be to into whatever story that she was telling to not notice me. I was about ten feet away before Grover notices me. He looks like he's about to call out before I cut him off with a harsh glare and a silence gesture. I could now clearly hear what Medusa was saying.

"—and he had the most mesmerizing eyes, a beautiful sea green—" she says, lost in whatever memory she was in, before I raise my sword and cleanly slice through her neck, her head falling to the table.

Annabeth and Grover jump from their seats and begin to scream as green blood begins to flow onto the table in a large pool.

"Di Immortales Percy! What the Hades!" Annabeth screams, she was still staring at the disembodied head. Grover was hyper ventilating a few paces away. Looking at the head as it was face down, still covered in the burqa, I felt sick to my stomach. It took a lot of will power not to throw up.

"She was a monster. Medusa. Had to kill her." I gasp out as I turn away from the head and look as her body disintegrates into gold dust then recapping the sword, turning it back to a pen.

"I knew there was a monster!" Grover shouts. "I knew it!"

"Shut it Grover." Annabeth hisses. "If you knew it was Medusa why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't know until I left to go to the bathroom." I say rubbing the back of my head. It technically wasn't a lie, but it didn't sound to good either.

Annabeth just confirmed this by giving me a disbelieving look.

"**I think that I should take over. What happens next takes some… surgical precision." **Adamos says before taking control.

"_What are you going to do?" _I ask as Adamos stands up and makes his way behind the counter and starts rummaging around underneath.

"Uh, Percy what are you doing?" Grover asks as well, while Annabeth looks curious herself.

Adamos peeks over, only showing my head above the counter. _**"Just grabbing the necessary equipment." **_

Grover and Annabeth exchange inquisitive looks with each other. I, myself, was sharing in their confusion. "Equipment for what?" Annabeth asks.

Adamos rolls his eyes at the two before grinning like a madman and pulls out a plastic container filled with ice and a spoon. _**"You'll see, or actually its best if you don't see. Either way I'm performing an enucleation on Medusa since she's my trophy" **_Adamos's smile goes wider.

"A knuckle what?" Grover asks, still clearly confused as Adamos walks over to Medusa's head.

"An enucleation. It's a type of surgery to remove…eyes." Annabeth says as her face goes a few shades whiter. Grover's eyes widen before he to pales. Internally I contemplate whether or not I can mentally vomit at what Adamos is about to do.

"Hey Percy, you're not really gonna," Grover gulps. "take her eyes out are you."

Adamos just looked at him like grew a second head. "Of course, I am. Why else would I get this stuff?" He says motioning to the spoon and container of ice. "Now if you don't mind …" Adamos says as he slips the spoon under the burqa, being careful to keep it over her eyes, and starts working with a sickening SQUELCH sound.

Grover immediately hoofs it to a different part of the warehouse, covering his mouth before the sound of vomiting can be heard. Annabeth herself looks like she's about to faint on the spot at the sight before she turns and quickly walks in another direction. I have to figuratively look away from it as it's to much for me to stomach to watch.

Five minutes later and Adamos is finished removing the eyes from Medusa's head. He wraps them in a towel and places them in the container of ice, before shutting it and putting it into the magic backpack. _**"OK now we can strip this place for goods." **_Adamos says with a smile still on his face.

"_How can you be ok with… that!?" _I mentally shout at him.

"**If it makes you feel better that's probably the last time, we'll have to remove someones eyes."**

"_I prefer if we never had to do it to begin with! Oh, god's I'm going to have nightmares about this." _I moan.

"**Heeeey buudddyyy. Would you feel better if we steal her milkshake maker and put it in the cabin? We can take the soda dispenser to. I'll even enchant them, so they don't run out of product to dispense."**

"_You can't just try to bribe me and make this go away!"_

"**What if I sweeten the deal with a magic weapon?"**

"_You can't just worm… magic weapon?"_

Adamos smirks as he grabs my attention. **"Yeah I can make these eyes into a weapon for you. So what do you say?"**

I was silent for a few moments before speaking again. _"Fine but promise me we won't do this again."_

"**Fine, fine. I promise not to scoop out more eyes."**

"_Ok. Ugh I can still hear the sounds." _I mentally shiver.

"**Don't worry you'll feel better in no time." **Adamos thinks as he tries to comfort me, all the while he's stuffing the blenders, fridge, nacho dispenser, and soda dispenser into the magic back pack that grows a bigger opening to fit the appliances. After, Adamos made his way into the back of the warehouse, making our way to Medusa's office which Adamos must have noticed.

"**You know she actually has some decent taste in office décor."**Adamos says after he releases control. I then began looking around the fully furbished office. The room was decorated with photos of Greek beaches, many potted plants, and polished leather seats around a mahogany desk. On the desk was Medusa's account book. The last six orders all shipments to the Underworld. The freight bill listed the address to DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I stuff the bill into my pocket and begin to rummage more. In a cash register on the desk I found twenty dollars, a few drachmae, and some package slips for Hermes overnight delivery service. I put the money and drachmae into my pack and pick up a delivery slip.

"You think if we find a big enough box Hermes can deliver us all the way there?" I say with a chuckle.

Adamos laughs. "**Doubt it. I don't think we have the drachmae for that delivery. Plus, if I remember correctly the last time a demigod tried, he left them in some random location."**

"Worth a shot." I say as I put the box back. I leave the office with all the newly acquired loot and head back to the front of the warehouse. Medusa's head was still on the table and Grover and Annabeth were waiting anxiously by the front door.

"You both ready to leave?" I asked. Grover just kept giving me worrying glances while Annabeth looked jumpy. Physically though they both looked better than they did earlier.

"Yeah the sooner we leave the better. What were you doing in the back?" Annabeth inquired.

"Oh …uh I saw an office when I went to the bathroom, so I decided to look around. I got the address to the underworld from there. Apparently, they like to order Medusa's statues." I half lied.

"Ok at least we have a destination. Let's get going. I don't want to be here any longer than we have to." Annabeth then turned on her heel and walked out the ware house. Grover and I just fell into place behind her.

**Line break**

We walked for about twenty-seven minutes before we came to a clearing in the woods. The place was littered with food wrappers, soda and beer cans, and other trash. It was clear that some one threw a party here, and I could feel Adamos's loathing at how they didn't clean up. Annabeth brought out some blankets from a bag that she must have taken from Medusa's lair. We managed to make ourselves a decent sleeping area.

We decided to sleep in turns so as to keep watch for any monsters. I volunteered for first watch. I guessed it was because of Adamos's earth powers or his night powers but I felt relaxed yet awake in the dark forest. I wasn't sleepy, so much as I was just exhausted from everything today. I thought that I would be best that I take first watch.

Annabeth took this as her chance to catch some sleep. She was instantly snoring when she laid down. Grover used his flying shoes to help him scale a tree. He sat on the lowest sturdy branch. I myself reached into the bag and pulled out the magic tome. I had been meaning to look into this more and thought that watch duty might be the best time.

"Hey Grover, why don't you catch some sleep. I'll let you know if I see something." I said.

He nodded but still looked out at nothing. "It makes me sad Percy."

"What? Do you mean the quest?" I asked.

Grover shook his head. "No, all of this." He gestured to the trashed area. "And the sky, you can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is such a terrible time to be a satyr."

I looked around to see what he was talking about. The area was indeed robbed of its natural beauty, and the sky was mostly a black canvas. I would never say this to him but Adamos and Grover would get along with how they feel about the environment.

"**Well I would fix all of this, but you know I had a few things holding me back mongrel." **Adamos says bitterly in my head, even though Grover can't hear him, but I understood at least a little bit how he felt. These were his domains that we were discussing. The fact that he couldn't act on them must irritate him to no end.

"Right, I guess you'd be an environmentalist." I say, focusing on talking with Grover.

Grover glared at me. "Only a human wouldn't be. Your species is destroying the planet so fast… nevermind. It's useless to lecture a human. At the rate things are going I'll never find Pan."

"**Or you know instead of trying to find some one to fix your problem, you try to solve it yourself!" **Adamos cried indignantly.

"Isn't that the satyr god?" I say as I push Adamos's comments away, only remembering bits from my lesson's with Annabeth and Adamos.

"Yes. The great god Pan." Grover said with a far away look. "He was to lord of the wild places, but he disappeared a few thousand years ago when a sailor heard a mysterious voice announcing that the great god Pan was dead. When the human's heard of this they began to pillage his kingdom. But to us satyrs he was our lord and savior. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. There are many stories passed down to young satyrs about how he would fight off an evil being of destruction that passed himself off as a false god, and had the humans build shrines to it. Pan would rescue the brave satyrs that would take it upon themselves to fight against this demon and his followers." Grover said as his voice began to fill with pride. "We satyrs believe that in the last battle with the demon, Lord Pan destroyed the evil being but had to hide away and rest from his injuries. Now satyrs of every generation pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the wild places of the earth, hoping to find him and wake him from his rest."

I sat as Grover spoke. I had a feeling of slight awe at the way he was talking about Pan, and how dedicated the satyrs are to all want to find him. However, at the same time I could feel a cold chill running down my spine. A feeling of icy, barely restrained, fury was building from Adamos.

"Hey—uh, Grover? W-what exactly was that demon's name in that story?" I say feeling increasingly nervous for my furry friend.

"Why would you want to know?" Grover says curiously.

"Oh…uh no reason in particular. Just…thought I would want to know more about you and your dreams." I swore Adamos was subtly growling in my head.

After a few moments Grover nodded, before looking around as if he were afraid someone was listening in. "The creature went by many names, but its most common one was Adamos." He whispered.

I nearly choke on the saliva in my mouth and start coughing. Adamos however was experiencing a different emotion.

"**I will kill the pelt. False god my ass." **He said in a low, threatening voice.

"_No, stop please don't kill my friend." _I begged him. _"We need him for the quest remember." _I try to reason with him. _"And uh, if he dies then there will be a bunch of questions and that will be a problem for you, remember?" _I fell that it's working as he slowly begins to calm, yet I still feel the intense anger.

"And even though it's been a few thousand years you believe that you'll find him." I say trying to sound calm and changing the subject.

"Yes, it's been my life's dream," He said. "My father and Uncle knew the risks, but I'll succeed. I'll be the first one to return alive."

"Wait, the first?" I said.

Grover began to twiddle his thumbs. "No searcher has ever come back alive. Once they set out, they are never heard from again. But I'll succeed. I'll be the first searcher to return alive." He said. As he was talking, I could feel Adamos's fury simmer to a low point, as if Grover talking about his own probable demise seemed to calm him.

"No one has come back alive in thousands of years and you still want to go." I asked in disbelief. "You think that you're the one who's going to find Pan?" I didn't know whether to praise Grover for his bravery for the seemingly hopeless dream or call him an idiot, but then I thought how I'm going to try to bargain meet with the god of the underworld.

"I have to believe that I can Percy. All searchers do. It's the only thing that we have that keeps us from falling to despair over the state of the world." We sat in silence till it seemed that Grover had fallen asleep, if his snores were anything to go by.

"**We need to get going. There's another monster nearby that we need to kill." **Adamos said.

"_Another one!? Can't we just wake the other's up and just run. I'm tired of fighting monsters today."_

"**This is a specific kind of monster. What we want is to kill it for the trophies it provides. If you kill it will help push my plan forward by a large jump."**

"_You mean this plan you haven't told me about." _I say flatly.

"**Yes that plan. It's a pretty simple plan actually. We are going to bribe the gods."**

"_That's it? We're going to bribe them?"_

"**Yep! A simple plan so that they don't decide to just kill you."**

"_And this'll convince them?" _I say skeptically.

"**You'd be surprised how easy it is to win them over."**

"_But what about them." _I look over to where Annabeth and Grover are sleeping. _"We can't just leave them. I'm supposed to be watching out for any monsters."_

"**Hmm. Look in the tome. Page sixty-four."** And I do as instructed and open the book to the page. On the page was a circular symbol inside a square with many arrows. I read the lines of description written next to it.

"A sanctuary rune?" I whisper out loud.

"**Yeah it's a weaker version of the one at the beach. Carving it into a nearby tree should conceal us from monsters. Unless one literally walks into the camp, they shouldn't be able to see them."**

"_This seems super useful. Why don't we tell Chiron about this?"_

"**Well it does have limitations. The safe area is only about ten feet in diameter and only lasts a few hours. But it would be beneficial to teach the other campers." **Adamos mused.

I then looked at the symbol once more, then drawing Riptide, I start to carve the rune into the tree that Grover was in. After a few tries I finally get it down and place my hand over it.  
I push some magic into it and feel a bit of energy leave me. I felt the air shift around, then walk away until the air feels normal again. Looking back at my handy work, Annabeth and Grover were slightly shimmering in and out of sight.

"_So, this monster?" _I ask.

"**This ways Percy. Demi Bots, roll out." **Adamos says gleefully.

**Line Break (Spin the Percy Signal)**

After twenty minutes of walking through the forest Adamos has me stop at the foot of a mountain. It wasn't a large mountain by any means, in fact it seemed more like a large group of rocky hills. Built into the face of the mountain was a large cave. It was greater than at least twice my height. The inside of the cave would have seemed pitch black if it weren't for Adamos's powers letting me see in the dark.

"So, what kind of monster are we here to slay? A dragon?" I say sarcastically.

"**Don't be ridiculous. A dragon would eat you alive. We're here to hunt a gryphon." **

"A gryphon?"

"**Yep, I looked in to this one while we were escaping. It's a bit young but it just hit prime hunting age. It stands at seven feet in height, probably weighs between twelve to thirteen hundred pounds, seven-inch talons along with a beak that can carve through rock. With the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, this thing just screams predator."**

"I can't tell if you're trying to pump me up or give me my cause of death." I say dryly. "Tell me again why I'm hunting this gryphon?"

"**Because Percy, I need you to cut off its wings and grab its talons. They are great trophies for heroes. That and gryphons are notoriously prideful and honorable creatures. They have a habit of collecting treasure in hoards as well as wanting to challenge other creatures in combat."**

I straighten at the mention of treasure. I remember when I was younger going around Central Park looking for treasure, but all I found was trash. Now I was imagining a large treasure chest in the back of the cave glittering with gold and gems. The adventures of Percy Jackson: treasure hunter hero has returned. "Let's do this." I say with conviction.

"**That's the spirit!" **Adamos shouts excitedly in my mind.

I nod with a grin on my face as I uncap Riptide. My weapon grows to full size. The bronze sword was emitting a slight glow in the darkness. Normally I wouldn't notice the glow but with my night vision it glowed like a light saber.

Wandering in after a few minutes of twists and turns at Adamos's directions. I hear a sound. It was a low rumble that got louder and then died down before growing once again. It was the sound of snoring. I felt my nerves begin to go into overdrive at the anticipation. Slowly I crept forward.

Turning the last corner my body freezes at the sight of the beast in front of me. This thing was huge. Larger than any lion I have ever seen in the zoo. It was curled in the furthest part of the cave, surrounded on all sides by a pile of a mix of gold, bronze, large stones and other items. At least enough to fill a treasure chest if not two or three. The roof of the cave was open enough that it seemed like it was how the gryphon left. The rain clouds covered the skies still, blocking any light from coming in.

"_OK so how do I get those trophies without it dissolving?"_

"**You'll have time to remove the wings. Gryphons are a class of monster that dissolve much more slowly. Like basilisks, dragons, and a few other types of monsters, they don't immediately dissolve."**

"_Is this gonna be like Medusa all over again?"_ I say as a shiver goes down my spine at the memory.

"**No this'll be more like skinning an animal. There's a clean way to do it."**

"OK," I whisper. "Lets do this." I slowly make my way to the sleeping beast. My grip on both weapons tightens till my knuckles turn white. Slowly, twenty paces, fifteen paces, ten, five paces till I'm close enough to the gryphon to kill it.

Then as if the fates themselves were laughing at me, waiting to watch me struggle, a bronze chalice slides down the pile of treasure, making multiple clinking sounds that echo throughout the cave. The Gryphon's eyes snap open as it stands up, it's gaze locking onto the glow of Riptide.

"SKREEEE!" The gryphon cries out in anger at the sight of an intruder.

What went through my mind was _"F# k me." _After that it was immediately followed by me casting a QUEN spell as the gryphon unfurls its wings. The wings impact against me, knocking me back into the cave wall. The spell took most of the damage, but the hit still knocked the wind out of me and cracked the shield. Another hit would shatter it.

The gryphon releases another cry as it rears back over me. I barely roll out of the way as the gryphon stomps on the ground, its claws digging into the stone, marking it.

"**Percy your sword." **Adamos cries out.

"What about it!" I cry out as the gryphon begins to circle me as I back away. I could see its sharp eyes locked onto me with a threatening gaze. As it lets out threating noises, its claws scraping against the stone floor of the cave as it prowls.

"**Its glowing in the dark, it's following your sword."**

At this I begin to wave Riptide around, and in response the gryphon's head moves around as it tracks the sword's movements. Then I realize that the gryphon is blind, while I could see perfectly clear in the dark.

"_Can I use your spear right now?" _I ask.

"**Yes, you're in the clear." **Adamos confirms. Then begin to plan something crazy. **"Percy what are you thinking?"**

"_Probably something stupid." _I think. I then put my half-made plan into action. The gryphon's gaze was still locked in my direction. I then tossed Riptide in one direction and I run in the opposite direction. The gryphon takes the bait as it rushes towards the glow of the sword and pounces. I climb on top of one of the large rocks that were in the cave and pull in the band on my wrist. The band transforms into a fully length spear in my hand.

The gryphon seems to realize that Riptide is just a sword and begins to rampage, swiping its claws and stomping everywhere around it. I try to time it, and then jump, holding the spear in both hands and stabbing down as I land onto the back of the gryphon.

As soon as the spear goes through its flesh, the beast lets out a screech of pain that was so loud I was hearing a ringing in my ears. It unfurls its wings and begins to flap them, slowly lifting into the air, ramming its body into the walls. I could feel the impact in my bones as my hands felt numb from the shock.

"Q-QUEN!" I barely manage to say before the gryphon manages to collide with a wall violently, half hitting me against the wall. The golden barrier flares against the force before shattering. My chest and back are now screaming in pain as I continue to ride on the back of the airborne gryphon.

I twist the spear and try to drive it in deeper into the gryphon's back. It lets out a screech as it quickly descends towards the ground. Seeing the floor come faster and faster my mind remembers all the times during training and I instinctually cast the QUEN spell once again, however somewhere along I subconsciously pour as much power into the spell as I possibly can.

As the gryphon dives the gold barrier of my spell begins to glow violently. Just as we both are about to hit the ground the spell shatters and explodes violently with a loud crash. The sound fills my ears, and my body feels like it went through a dryer cycle. A warm, wet feeling rolls down the side of my head, my chest feels like it's on fire, but the spear was still in my grip, and across the room the gryphon lays on its side with blood flowing form its wounds.

It weakly cries out in resistance as it struggles to get up to its feet. I struggle to get up as well and feel a weight in my pocket, signifying that Riptide had returned to me. I pull out the pen and uncap it, turning it into the three-foot-long bronze sword. The gryphon once again locks onto the glow of the sword.

"**Give the beast an honorable death Percy. No tricks or cheats, it has earned an honorable end." **Adamos says in a serious tone.

I get into a stance with the spear in one hand and the sword pulled back for a swing. The gryphon crouches, and I see its eyes narrow in focus. We stood there in silence, neither making a move until a silent signal sounds off and we charge together at once.

I draw on the earth power and use it to push myself forward at a faster speed. I feel the pull in my gut as I speed forward. We charge forward with the gryphon pouncing to me as I thrust the spear of ruin, but it seems as if the gryphon's superior size and strength will let it reach me first, until feel a tug in my gut that turns incredibly painful. The spear glows a burning golden white with trails of light flowing behind it. In that moment the spear accelerates forward at a blinding speed, faster than I was capable of pulling off, and the glowing spearhead extends, piercing through the gryphon's chest and out it's back and into the stone wall of the cave. It was as if a shooting star had flown from the tip of the spear.

The gryphon then falls, with the spear still it it's chest, onto its side. Its blood begins to pool after I remove the spear and it ceases to glow.

"What was that?" I ask as I look at the spear.

"**My spear works with my domains. You must have forced the star domains into it to do that. Not bad Percy."**

I just nod at Adamos's comments before I hear a low warble next to me. I remember the dying gryphon and I internally debate before giving in and taking a look at the eyes of the gryphon. They were a beautiful golden color, these eyes of the once majestic beast locked onto my own. There was no hatred, only acceptance before it dies. It brought back what Adamos said earlier 'Gryphons are notoriously prideful and honorable creature.' This one took me entering its lair as a challenge and fought me as an equal. I stood and bowed in respect to the beast.

"**Good Percy, it is only proper to show respect to an honorable opponent. In this time there is a prayer I say to the fallen creatures I hunt. 'Oh, honorable creature. I thank you for your noble life." **Adamos begins to recite in my head. I in turn repeat everything that he says. **"Your death provides me with a bounty. May you receive peace and a bountiful afterlife. A-ten."**

"A-ten." I finish the prayer. I began to feel guilty about taking the life of the gryphon. It was simply sleeping in its home and I came to kill it.

"**Percy. Look up." ** Adamos says gently. I feel power coming from him as it seemed to focus in my eyes. I look up after a few moments, my gaze was stuck on its eyes, to see a pure white gryphon standing above the corpse. I immediately jump back getting both weapon's ready.

"**Percy calm down!"** Adamos shouts in my head.

"What do you mean calm down. There's a second gryphon right there." I exclaim, I tighten my grip for another fight, but I didn't have it in me anymore. My legs were shaking, my lungs and chest burned, and my head was killing me.

"**Look closely."** Adamos said calmly. I take a closer look at the gryphon, without dropping my guard, to see that it was transparent.

"What—is it…" I start.

"**Yes Percy. This is the gryphon's soul. I know how you must be feeling about this, but I wanted to show you that it's all right. That like all special animals of the wild it will go to a better place." **Adamos says, then if on cue the gryphon soul bows its head in a respectful manner, then silently dissolves onto wisps of light.

"**Creatures like that automatically make it to Elysium Percy. It will be ok." **Adamos reassures me, and I have to say that I was relieved at this. I stand there for a few more moments of silence.

"**All right," **Adamos says in a cheerful tone. **"Time to dismantle this bad boy."**

"Uhh… yeah… do you think—I mean your better than me…"  
**"You want me to do it don't you."** Adamos says in a flat tone.

"If that's not to much trouble." I chuckle. I then feel Adamos take over as he starts to dismantle parts of the gryphon. He removes the wings, pelt, and claws and talons in record speed. Then he moves onto the treasure and starts digging through it. He pulls out old swords, tons of gold and silver coins, and a bunch of modern coins. However, what seems to draw his attention the most was a large medallion as well as a double-sided foot long dagger, both with gemstones at their centers, which he removed and tossed it into the Hestia back pack I brought along but left outside the cave. He summoned it with a snap of his fingers. Most of the treasure and the gryphon trophies were stored in the back pack.

After all that was done Adamos made his way back to the camp. I was personally to exhausted to try and slept on the way. I heard Adamos muttering about different experiments merrily, while I began to recollect everything that had happened today before drifting to sleep.

**A/N: Hey ya'll. This is Momentei here in the wild west. I know that this here story was late, but I had a lot going on. Between midterms, papers and work it's been a bit hectic. Also, I've been thinking of other stories. Stories that might be interesting as a side project. Also there weren't many references in this chapter and I'm so sorry about that. It brings shame to me. Anyways I think that's all folks. Remember to leave a review because good criticism will help me write better. **


	13. Chapter 12: Things Get Deep

Percy speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

_**Adamos speaking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 12**

**Things Get Deep**

My eyes were heavy as I tried to open them. One of the last things that I remembered was the pain and soreness of my body before falling asleep. Adamos had said that he would skin the gryphon for me, then my thoughts focused on the beast. The gryphon that I killed, the look in its eyes as I pierced its chest. The look of acceptance at its fate, of its noble spirit as it passes, it was so much to process.

I open my eyes slowly, blinking the dreariness from my sight, to find an unfamiliar sight. I was in a forest. I know that Grover, Annabeth, and I were camping in a forest but this one seemed different. The terrain seemed to be filled with more rocks than before, the trees were shorter yet branched wider. The ground was dry, and shrubs were everywhere. This was not like any forest in New York that I've seen. The sun was almost at its highest peak, meaning that it was close to noon.

"If you don't get a move on, we'll be here all day." A male voice whispered in amusement from somewhere around me. I turned to look for the source of the voice. It sounded familiar, yet slightly different so I couldn't put a place to it.

"Stop talking I'm trying to concentrate!" A young female voice snapped. This voice sounded high pitched, like that of a young child.

It took me a few moments before I was able to find where the two voices were because they were very well hidden. In the brush was a young man and a little girl, both crouched, with the little girl holding a bow with an arrow drawn. I tried to call out to them until I realized I couldn't talk. I crouched and walked closer to see what they were aiming at. A lone deer was grazing in the middle of a field.

The young girl drew back her bow further before letting go. The arrow flew mostly straight but still missed the deer. As soon as it flew past the deer's head jolted up and then it took off in the opposite direction.

"Why didn't it hit?! I did everything you said!" The young girl cries out in frustration as she stands and stomps out of the bush. Now that she isn't concealed, I can see that she is around six years old and wearing an ancient Greek chiton. She had a head of fiery auburn hair that was tied in a braid.

"You rushed it. You can't just draw back and fire. Every time you draw you need to reset yourself." The man said as he followed her out of the brush. He was also wearing a chiton with a bow and quiver on his back. He had a head of messy black hair that was tied back and seemed to glimmer in the light. He turned his head to look at the young girl. He looked like Adamos but was older than I last saw him, yet his voice was younger. He looked to be around eighteen years old.

"But I did do that. Why is this so hard!" The young girl complains heatedly. She glared at the arrow that was stuck near where the deer was.

"Nooo," Adamos said calmly yet with a smile full of amusement. "You rushed. If you want to hunt you need to learn patience. Now come on, we can still catch another deer if we go now." He smirks before walking off in the direction of the deer. His footsteps not making any noise.

The young girl races after him and falling to his side. Her footsteps making a slightly rustling sound as she treads through the grass. I follow after the two as neither notice me there. Adamos leads her through the brush occasionally pointing at snapped twigs and hoof prints. He stops.

"We're close enough. You take it from here." Adamos said as he crosses his arms.

"Can't you just show me where the deer is? Why do I have to look for it if you already where it is?" The young girl questioned.

"Because if I just tell you, you'll never learn. I can't always be here to get food for you, your mom and brother. You have to be able to hunt for yourself." Adamos says in a soft tone.

"Fine." The young girl said. She then wanders around the area looking closely at the bushes, the ground and trees before stopping and following a trail that I couldn't see. Adamos and I followed behind her, she stopped a few times to find the trail once again, until about ten minutes later she and Adamos were crouched in a brush once again. Another deer was standing in a grassy area, grazing.

"All right, remember to take your time. Don't rush." Adamos whispers into her ear as she draws an arrow back. "Aim just above the foreleg, right where the heart is located. One shot, one kill." The young girl draws back the bow. She takes a deep breath and readjusts her aim. After a silent moment, she lets go of the string and the arrow flies. A thunk is heard followed by a cry from the deer.

"I did it!" The little girl says excitedly. "Did you see that? Did you?" She runs over to the downed deer as Adamos walks over at his own pace.

"I did. That was very good. Your first hunt is a success. How do you feel?" Adamos asks with a smile on his face as he watches the little girl jump up and down excitedly.

"I think I can take down a bear now. Can we? Please?" She says as she tries to convince him with some of the most adorable puppy dog eyes I've ever seen.

"I think we have enough meat for now, and it's too soon for you to go after bear." He says. The small girl visibly deflates. "Besides a real hunter," The girl gives him an adorable glare, "or huntress," she smiles at him thinking she won, "never takes more than they need. You need to respect the balance of nature. Respect the deer, for through its life it has grown big, and through its death it provides us with what we need to survive." Adamos kneels down and gently removes the arrow from deer's carcass. "Come here." Adamos says to the small girl, motioning her over.

The girl walks over to Adamos and kneels next to him. Adamos puts his hand on her shoulder and her eyes seem to glow. She gasps as a pure white deer forms over the body of the fallen animal. The white deer bows before them. The little girl reaches out slowly, as if to pet the formed soul. Her hand almost touches it, then the deer dissolves into motes of light.

"What was that?" The little girl asks her voice filled with awe.

"That was the soul of the deer you just hunted. Even after death you must respect it. That is one of the most important things I can teach you as a hunter." Adamos stands and picks up the deer, he uses a knife and cuts its throat and lets blood flow out, then puts it over his shoulder. "Come my little huntress we must take your spoils back so your mother may make a feast of it." Adamos shouts in a jovial tone and walks back to the forest.

The little girl runs to his side and slips her hand into his larger one. "Thank you for taking me hunting," A blush spreads across her face as her gaze goes to the ground. "Big brother."

Adamos gives her a heartfelt smile. "Of course, my little huntress," the girls turns her head and her blush grows. "I will take you out as often as you want. I quite enjoy these little outings with my baby sister. Now let's go, I promised your brother I would teach him how to use a sword and we need to process this meat." Adamos says as they both walk off.

I stare at their retreating figures. This was another dream about Adamos's past, yet I didn't know who this little sister was.

"Percy!" I hear a faint voice coming from somewhere. "Percy!" The voice says again, but this time a little louder. I whirl around, looking around the forest, but not seeing anyone.

"Percy!" The voice says louder, and it sounds feminine and so familiar, yet I couldn't place it. Slowly the forest begins to dissolve as shadows creep forward and engulf everything. I back away as they seem to get closer before stopping. Then all at once the shadows recede and the scenery had changed. The forest was gone and now I was in a dark cave. At the center was a large gaping pit. Mist began to form all around me, whispers caressed my ears and the faint feeling of hands were holding my shirt from the mist. Yet I felt a strange pull to the pit. It compelled me as I walked closer, till I was at the edge of the hole. Staring down made me sick. The pit seemed to go down forever, yet I felt that something was trying to claw its way up. Something horrid and dark.

"Little hero," A dark voice said from the bottom of the pit, its voice laced with amusement. "So young, so weak, but you will do." The voice felt heavy and seemed to bear down on me like massive weights.

"They have misled you boy," It said. "if you're willing to make a deal, I can give you what you want." At this the space above the pit shimmered. It solidified and the form of my mother appeared as she was when the minotaur crushed her, and she vanished. Her face was frozen in an expression of desperation and horror. Her eyes still held the same pleading message for me to run away. I wanted to cry out to her, but my voice still didn't work.

The voice just laughed. An invisible force began to pull me forward toward the chasm, but I started to back away.

"Help me rise boy," the voice became louder as it echoed through the cavern, "Bring me the bolt. Strike a blow against the treacherous gods!"

The mist gathered around me and began to grab at my clothes. The whispers grew louder. "Get away! GET AWAY!"

Over the pit the figure of my mom faded away, then the pulling strengthened. Something was coming, and it sent an ice-cold chill through my body. I tried to back away from the pit but the pull seemed to only increase.

"Percy! Come on." I heard from behind me. I turned around and a glowing doorway was there. A silhouette of a man was holding out his hand to me. "Grab my hand!" I reached out as I kept moving away from the crevice. Each step was like moving my legs through knee high mud. Slowly I made my way till I was just within reach. The silhouette man reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me through the doorway. I was off balance and tripped over my own feet as I went through the doorway and landed on my back. The man closed the door and briskly walked away.

"That was close. You were almost in a tight spot there Perce. Luckily I got there in time." The man said as he made his way to a strange console in the center of the room. I looked around and noted the strange style of the room. The walls were metallic with glowing round orbs in them, and out of them were coral style arches. The floor was a steel grid. However, the strangest thing was the console in the center. It was round and had a bunch of weird switches, knobs, buttons, and a bunch of other things. A large glass case rose from its center and glowed blue. A slight wheezing sound was sounding around me. The man had his back to me, and he was wearing a well-fitting blue suit.

"Uh thanks for getting me out of there. Uh, but who are you." I ask.

"Oh, but Percy we already know each other." The man says as he fiddles with the console and keeps his back to me. "Well we've never formally met, but we've known each other for a while."

"Ok? But who are you?" I ask as I get up from the ground.

The man turns around. His messy pitch-black hair shimmered in the low light. His multi colored eyes were filled with mirth as he smiled at me. "Percy. I'm hurt." He says, putting his hand over his heart in a mock form of disbelief. "We've been so close and yet it seems we're still so far. I mean how could you forget this genius wit."

"…Adamos?" I say but it was more in a question than a confirmation.

"The one and only." Adamos says as he puts his hands in his pockets and leans against the console.

"Oh…" I say. This is the first time that I've actually met the guy…god in person. "I guess its nice to finally meet you."

"And to you as well little brother." Adamos says with a smile.

"So, would you mind explaining where we are?" I ask as I look around at the weird décor.

"Just a way to get to our destination. Which we are coming to right about now." Adamos says as the wheezing sound grows louder. The room begins to shake violently, and I nearly fall over, only stopping myself by grabbing the console that Adamos was still leaning against casually. The shaking then began to die down until it came to a stop. I slowly rose to my feet.

"What was that?" I ask.

"That would be us arriving at our destination." Adamos says. "Why don't you step outside and take a look." Adamos says as he points to the wooden doors that I came through. I make my way over to the doors. I look back to Adamos and he just nods to the doors. I open the doors and step outside. The sunlight was harsh on my eyes, making it so I had to cover them for a brief moment as they adjust. What I saw was a tropical island. A beautiful ocean washed over a white sand beach. A vibrant jungle was off to the side it was filled with many colored flora. I turned back to where Adamos was and saw something weird. The doorway that connected to the large room where Adamos was belonged to a blue wooden box, the word police was written on the top.

"So, what do you think?" Adamos said with giant smile on his face. He looked to the blue box and then at me, like he was expecting me to say something about it.

"I guess…" I said.

"Yeah?" Adamos's grin grew.

"it's smaller on the outside." I said with a shrug. Adamos however seemed to lose just about all his joy in the moment as his smile fell.

"You ruined it. I managed to do everything perfectly, and yet you somehow you ruined it." Adamos says with a sigh. He then snaps his fingers and the blue box disappears. The suit that he was wearing morphs into a short toga that only covered one peck. His lower half was covered with a cloth that wrapped around legs with an opening in the middle and a leather skirt and loin cloth on top that reached to his knees. He had golden greaves on his legs and sandals. His arms were bare except for arm guards. On his left hand was a plain silver ring. His body was lean yet muscular, like a perfect balance of agility and power. It was the body of a warrior. Adamos though sulked as he sat on the sands.

"Uh… you ok?" I ask.

"Yeah, yeah." He waves me off. "Anyways I just wanted to congratulate you on taking down the gryphon. You managed to do it with barely any help from me." He said though his tone made it sound like an off handed comment. It reminded me of a certain wine god.

"Riigghht." I say and look around. "So what exactly is going on?"

"You," He says as he points at me. "were in a demigod dream. It wasn't good by any means. That voice was the enemy that's trying to start a war amongst Olympus. He was trying to tempt you into doing what he wants"

"And he's the one who has my mom? I mean I saw her there. She was right there." I say.

"No," Adamos shakes his head. "She wasn't actually there. That was an illusion, I'm sure of it." Adamos then looks at me dead in the eyes. "A word of warning Percy. Never trust him. He is a manipulator and a double crosser. He will say whatever to get what he wants and throw you away when he no longer needs you."

"And who is he exactly?" I ask as I sit next to him. The sand was pleasantly warm and soft.

"Names have power, so its best if you don't know his actual name. For now we can just refer to him as the Crooked one." Adamos says as his gaze goes out to the endless expanse of ocean in front of us.

"Ok, next question. Where are we?" I ask.

"An island." Adamos says.

I look at him, expecting him to say more. But he doesn't and just sits there. "And?"

"And what?" He says with a raised brow.

"How did we get here? Where are Annabeth and Grover? We were just in a forest so where are we now?" I list off questions.

"We came here in the police box—"

"And what's with that" I interrupt.

"It was nothing just a joke that I thought would be enjoyable, but it doesn't matter anymore." Adamos says, his tone going back slightly to a sulk "Anyways, Annabeth and the satyr are still in the forest, I brought you back there and after a few working hours on a project while you All were sleeping Annabeth took over watch and now, I'm here with you."

"Wait how can I be here with you but with them as well?"

Adamos gave me a raised brow. "You really are pretty slow." I blush at the straight forward comment. "Your still dreaming Percy. All of this," He gestures to our surroundings. "is just a mental construct. Just like the blue police box."

"So, I came up with all of this?" I say as I look around at the admittingly beautiful scenery.

Adamos laughs. "Oh Hades no. I made all of this. This is where I stay while I'm in your body and not controlling it or doing anything. I mean just look over there." He says as he points to his left.

I lean back so as to see past him. A large and majestic looking beach house sat It was a three story mansion that seemed to be made out of blocks of sea stone with two balconies. The mansion was built in the form of an omega that wrapped around a floating dock that lead to the ocean. "Is that—"

"A mansion? Yes, yes, it is. Does it exist? Yes. This whole island is an exact model of one that I created in the middle of the pacific about ninety years ago."

"Damn." I simply said.

Adamos chuckles. "Yeah that seems like an appropriate word to use. I would love to show you more of the island and the mansion, but it's time for you to wake up. There's an Amtrak half a mile south of here. We got enough money, so I suggest you buy some tickets west. I'm going to sleep so you'll be on your own for a while." Adamos yawns. I must have given him a weird look because he followed up. "Don't look at me like that. Even us gods need to sleep sometimes, and besides I used a lot of power last night fixing things and working on a few items, and I'm drained. Even if it's not as often or as necessary as you mortals need it a nap can still do wonders. Anyways it was nice to meet face to face Perce. I'll see you later."

"Uh… yeah. I'll see you when you wake up." I said and then the island began to fade away.

My eyes snapped open and I raised myself onto my elbows. Daylight shown in my eyes as I raised my hand to block the offending light.

"So the zombie lives." Annabeth says from my side. "Here, I got you breakfast." She tosses a bag of chips at my feet.

"How long was I out?" I asked as I opened the bag and began to eat.

"A few hours. And Grover went out to explore and found something I guess." She said and nodded in a direction. I followed where she was directing and saw Grover pacing back and forth animatedly, and with something in his arms.

"Percy your awake!" Grover said excitedly.

"Uh yeah. I am." I said to the obvious.

"I went exploring and come across something wonderful. The lands been restored during the night. There's no trash anywhere and there's so much life in the forest. The wild here has been restored." Grover says with pure joy. I look around at the area. Where there was once a grass area littered with cans and trash was now a lush forest that looked straight out of a fantasy novel. I took a deep breath and the smell of rot and the river were nowhere, instead the area smelled like flowers and soil. "Only Pan could do this. This must mean that he wants to be found."

Grover seemed to be jumping around with glee. I however remember talking with Adamos and he said that he spent the night fixing things. I could only assume that he meant that he spent a lot of power fixing the pollution in the area and probably far around, which explained why he said he was tired., but I couldn't tell Grover that.

"Uh Grover, not that that isn't great and all but what are you holding?" I say as I look at the pink thing in his arms.

"Oh! Right, this is Gladiola." He says as he stops moving so I can get a good look at the thing in his arms. It was fuzzy, dirty and…pink? It took me moment to see that what he was holding was a poodle. A pink poodle.

The poodle yapped at me. "No, he's not." Grover replied.

I blinked and wondered if I was still dreaming. "Are…are you talking to that thing?"

The poodle growled at me. "This thing…," Grover warned. "Is Gladiola. Say hello to Gladiola Percy."

I looked at Annabeth for some kind of notion that this was a practical joke, but she gave no indication. "I'm not saying hello to a poodle." I said.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle." The poodle meanwhile growled at me.

I however wasn't intimidated by the dog in the slightest as I stared at it and drew out Riptide and uncapped it. In the presence of the bronze sword the pink dog seemed to shrink a bit. "I'm not doing that. Why do you even have it with you?" I know it might be extreme, but I took on a gryphon last night. A pink dog wasn't going to scare me.

"Gladiola," Grover said with emphasis. "is our ticket west. He used to belong to a rich family till he ran away. According to him they are currently posting two-hundred dollars for his return. Gladiola has offered to be returned so we can collect the money to go west. There's even a train station a half mile away."

"How does he know about the reward?" I ask.

"He can read the signs." Grover said. "Duh."

I gave him an incredulous look and then looked at Annabeth. She was facepalming and shaking her head. "That is pretty stupid. How can a dog learn to read? Never mind." I say, cutting him off from what he was about to say. "We don't need the dog. I think I have enough money for train tickets." I say as I reach in to my back pack and dig around till I find what I'm looking for. I pull out and in my hand is a large fold of bills.

Both of their eyes bug. "Where did you get all that?" Annabeth asks.

"Aunt Hestia gave it to me before we left." I say like it was no big deal. Annabeth gave me an inquisitive eyebrow and Grover just had his mouth hanging open..

"Why would she do that?" Annabeth asks.

I blink. "Because she's a nice person." I simply said. "Now let's get going. We have no time to waste." I say as I pack up all my things and just head off. Both of them take a moment to collect themselves and follow me.

"Grover put the dog down." Annabeth loudly whispers to him as he seemed to forget he was still holding the poodle. He placed the dog down and jogs to catch up.

**Line Break**

We made our way to the Amtrak station and purchased our tickets West, but it was only enough to get us to Denver. We got on and spent two days on the train. We sped past golden fields, large rivers, and mountains. Nothing was attacking us but that only lessened the tension a little. Adamos woke up after our first few hours on the train, and that made me feel better. You never appreciate a monster detector until it goes offline.

The entire time I was trying to keep a low profile after I saw my name and picture on the front pages of half a dozen newspapers. One of them even had a picture of me as we escaped the bus the other day. The article read that after me and my mom disappeared, I was last seen attacking three elderly women and fleeing with two accomplices. There was even a reward for my capture set by Gabe.

"Don't worry Percy," Annabeth tried to comfort me. "Mortal police will never find us." Key word 'tried'.

The rest of the day on the train I spent just watching the scenery go by, and occasionally walking around the train. At one point I saw a family of centaurs galloping next to the train. There was even a child one. And another time I saw something huge moving through the woods. Its fur shimmered golden in the evening sun. Adamos said that that was the Nemean Lion, which I could kinda believe since it looked to be the size of a truck.

"Hey Percy?" Annabeth asked after hours of silence.

"Hmm?" I barely responded.

"Do you think that something's going wrong with this quest?" She said.

"What do you mean?" I said as my attention was now fully on her.

"I mean things seemed weird. Like at Auntie Em's. She knew my name even though we never said them. It was almost like she was expecting us." Annabeth had a speculative look.

"That does seem weird. You think someone told her we were on a quest." I said. I knew that someone was probably Luke, but I didn't want to tell her that since she seemed to like the older boy a lot.

"Maybe." Annabeth said as she glanced at me "How did you know that she was a monster?"

"Uh," I said as my eyes widen slightly. I try to school my features and hope that she didn't notice. "Well she seemed to nice to be real and I heard her lock the door when we went in. So I thought that she was a monster." I shrugged.

Annabeth looked like she was in deep thought for a moment but then seemed to push that thought away. "I guess that makes sense." She mutters. "But what really has me concerned were the Kindly ones.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"When the Kindly ones attacked us on the bus, they were asking for it, not he, or him, but it." Annabeth explained.

"So, they're looking for something." I finished her statement.

"Yes, but what they are looking for is the problem. The Kindly ones only report to the god of the dead so if they're looking for something it must be an important item to him."

"This just gets better and better." I mumble. "Even if we knew what they were looking for we can't go and get it. Were on a quest of our own and we have no idea what they are looking for to begin with. I think we should just ignore it." I say.

Annabeth gives me a thoughtful look, like she wanted to say more, before deciding against it and just nodding. The silence once again engulfs us.

"_So you think she's right."_ I ask.

"**Oh yeah," **Adamos thought. **"It is a good plan. With two weapons missing the gods are gonna start pointing fingers. Zeus already thinks we stole the bolt, and with Hade's item gone it would make the most sense to think you stole it." **

"_Great. Just what I need. Another angry god after me." _ I moan.

"**Aw come on it'll be fine." **Adamos thinks. **"It could be worse." **

"_How could it be worse?"_

"**I don't really know at the moment, but it could be." **Adamos shrugs.

"_That isn't exactly comforting." _I think in exasperation. After that it was mostly quiet. I went back to looking out the window. Nothing really happened, except for one time when one of Grover's fake feet fell of an Annabeth and I had to put it back on.

The silence continued for a bit longer before Annabeth broke it once more. "Who is it that needs your help?"

"Excuse me?" I ask.

"Back in the forest. You kept mumbling about not helping. So who wants your help."

I paused. I thought, "_Should I tell her?"_

"**That is up to you Percy. It was your dream."** Adamos responds.

I go over it a few times in my head before making my mind up and I ended up telling Annabeth about the pit. I left out the parts about Adamos because I doubt that she would understand his eccentricities.

"That doesn't sound like Hades." Annabeth said as she rubbed her chin. Hades always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."

"**Oh don't even talk like you know him." **Adamos mumbles in my mind.

"And he was asking for the bolt. But if we're going to the Underworld to get the bolt, then why would he try to trade my mom for it.?" I said, feigning ignorance at the knowledge of the bolt not being in Hade's possession.

"I don't know Percy, but even so you can't make a deal with Hades for your mother, if it comes down to it w might have to leave her." She said with a serious look.

I was taken back. "What would you do if it was your parent?" I asked.

Annabeth began to finger the ring that was on the necklace she wore. "I would leave him to rot."

I blinked. "You can't be serious?"

Annabeth's eyes fixed on me with a hard gaze. "My dad's resented me since I was born." She said with venom. "He never wanted a baby. He even asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy and told him that heroes needed to be raised by their mortal parents."

"But he's still your dad. He must care." I said.

Annabeth snorts. "When I was born I appeared on my dad's doorstep in a golden basket, carried down by Zephyr, the west wind. You'd think he would consider it a miracle, take a few pictures or something. But he would always talk about it as if it was the most inconvenient thing to happen to him. He even got married and forgot all about me and my mom. He got a regular mortal wife and two regular mortal kids."

"**Athena." **I hear Adamos say in exasperation.

"He doesn't care about me," Annabeth said, her voice going faster as she spills her past. "His wife thought I was a freak. I couldn't be near her children, and dad just went with it. Anything dangerous was my fault, any accident was my fault. They would just look at me like 'how dare you put our family in danger.' I got the hint that I wasn't wanted so I left."

"How old were you?" I asked softly.

"Seven. The same age as when I came to camp." She whispered.

"How did you get to camp then? I can't imagine a seven-year-old doing that."

"I wasn't alone. My mom, Athena, guided me to help. I made a few unexpected friends who took care of me."

"You mean Grover, Luke, and …the daughter of Zeus." I said. I almost said Thalia but stopped, fearing that the name would hurt Annabeth more.

Annabeth's eyes seemed to glaze over slightly. Whether it was from tears or just being lost in memories I don't know. "Yes." She simply said. After that the conversation died. We each just fell asleep. Though I was upset at her for suggesting leaving my mom, but I was also upset that I seemed to hurt her emotionally. I thought to myself _"I need to make this up to her."_

**Line Break**

"**OK tell me again why were here?" **Adamos asked. His voice held slight bits of irritation. **"Were on a time crunch and somehow you convinced me to let you come here."**

"_Annabeth still seems sad. So, I thought that this would cheer her up."_ I thought. You see it was the second day on the train and we were in the middle of a three-hour layover in St. Louis before the train would leave for Denver. With this excess time, I suggested that we go on a tour of the St. Louis Arch for sightseeing. After yesterday's talks I felt bad for her, I wanted to cheer her up. So, when she mentioned the Arch I suggested we go and dragged Grover with us. Currently we were waiting in line in the underground passageway for our turn to ride the elevator to the top of the Arch.

"Oh, I can't wait. Did you know that the Arch is the tallest man-made monument in the western Hemisphere? It stands at six hundred and thirty feet tall and is the tallest accessible building in Missouri." Annabeth started spouting out facts about the monument even though Grover and I weren't listening.

"What's wrong?" I asked Grover as we both tuned out Annabeth's tirade of facts. Ever since we came here, he's been fidgeting around nervously.

"Oh, uh nothing, satyrs just don't do well underground. It smells like monsters." Grover said.

"Well, once this is over, we'll be back on the train and be out of here." I said and Grover nodded, him wanting to get this over with. I myself wasn't really feeling well either in the confined space.. As we were ushered forward into the small elevator, I felt like I was going nuts in the small space. It didn't help that the elevator went in a curve.

We rode the elevator to the top and got off onto an observatory that was built into the Arch. The observatory was built like a large soda can. There were rows of small windows on the walls with a view of the city on one side and the river on the other. Annabeth was animatedly walking about, talking about what she would have done if she designed the monument. I walked off to the side and looked out the side that overlooked the river.

"_This was a huge mistake." _I thought as I looked out one of the windows. _"I should not have suggested this."_

"**You're not having second thoughts now are you. You wanted to make Annabeth feel better."** Adamos thinks sarcastically.

"_Well clearly I didn't think about being in a metal tube six hundred feet in the air." _I thought.

"**It's actually six hundred and thirty feet."** Adamos corrected.

"_You're not helping." _I thought. Out of the corner of my eye the next group of tourists came out of the elevator.

I felt Adamos tense in my mind. **"Percy, we got a problem."**

"_Is it a monster?"_ I asked.

"**Ok one. I'm proud that your learning. And two. Yes. Specifically, two of them."**

"_Where are they?" _I ask as I turn.

"**Don't turn around!" **Adamos shouts in my head. I straighten and face forward.** "We can't tip them off. Look casual, yet not too casual." **

I slowly turn around and walk to the other side of the observatory where Annabeth and Grover are. _"Where are the monsters?" _I ask.

"**It's that fat lady and her dog." **Adamos said. I glanced out of the corner of my eye until I found the woman and her pet. The woman was super fat and dressed in a denim dress that seemed to be stretched to the limit on her large figure. The little dog next to here was a ratty little chihuahua wearing a rhinestone collar. It kept baring its teeth at anyone that came near.

I stayed near Annabeth and Grover while keeping my eye on fat lady and her rat dog. Luckily for me the attendant for the observatory announced that they were closing in a few minutes. I quickly steered Annabeth and Grover over to the elevator as Annabeth seemed to pout at the thought of leaving. I shoved both of them in and was about to get in myself when the attendant stopped me.

"I'm sorry young man, but the elevator is full. You'll have to wait for the next one." He said.

"We'll get out." Annabeth said. "We'll wait with him."

I glanced to the fat lady out of the corner of my eye and saw the chihuahua lick its lips with a forked tongue. My eyes widen a bit before I look back to my friends. "No, it's fine. I'll catch the next one."

Grover had nervous look yet Annabeth had a skeptical look and seemed to be about to say something, but couldn't as the doors slide shut. The number above going down. Now the only people left were me, the monsters, the attendant, and a family of three. I slowly back away from the elevator, the fat lady's eyes following me barely. If they were here for me, I didn't want the mortals to be in the way.

"_You got any plans for them?" _I ask.

"**Yeah. Summon the backpack. I was working on something after you killed the gryphon. I think now would be a good time to test it. Just trace this glyph into the wall." **Adamos instructs.

I lean against a wall farther from the elevator. I try to look cool and nonchalant. Like one of those old school bad boys from a 50's themed movie I saw with my mom. I traced the glyph that Adamos instructed into the wall. It was almost like I was drawing an upside-down pineapple. I pour a bit off power into the glyph and it glows before dyeing down. The backpack flops onto the floor. I pick it up and reach in to the bag.

"_What am I looking for?" _

"**You're looking for an amulet." **Adamos says as I reach around in the bag. My hand grasps around something with a chain. I pull it out and it was a beautiful necklace with a green gemstone in the center. The gemstone hade a slit in the center that was a mix of yellow and black. A jolt of fear hits me like lightning. My body freezes and by body screams at me to run but it felt like I was petrified.

"**Percy!"** Adamos shouts in my head. The sudden loudness jolts me, and I nearly drop the amulet. I catch it and make sure to keep it faced in another direction.

"_What is this thing?"_ I ask as I glance at the item in trepidation.

"**An amulet from the nest of the gryphon and one of the eyes of Medusa. I based it off of Athena's Aegis but it's less powerful in exchange for carrying convenience."** Adamos explained **"It will only work once on an opponent in combat so don't try to use it again if they recover from the shock."**

I nod and palm the amulet and slip the back pack over my shoulders. I turn back to the elevator, but what I see makes my heart begin to race and my hand go to Riptide in my pocket. The fat lady was staring directly at me with slit eyes, a mouth full of sharp teeth and green, scaly arms that were now revealed as her sleeves were rolled up.

"Oh my. It seems that the little half-blood knows what we are sonny." The chihuahua growls at me. "Oh yes. He does seem to be an interesting one. He will be a fine morsel." She says.

The chihuahua then begins to grow larger as it barked. Then the barks became more distorted and they began to shift to a roar as the beast grew so large that it's back was scraping against the roof. As this happened, I pulled out Riptide and uncapped it, but I could feel my hands shaking slightly in the monster's presence.

"**The chimera." **Adamos says, his voice tense. The beast was a hodgepodge of different creatures. The head was of a lion with its mane caked with dried blood, the body resembled a goat except for the front legs which were the clawed paws of the lion. In the back was a ten-foot-long snake that seemed to his at me. The only ridiculous thing was the rhinestone collar that was around its neck.

The mortals that were still with us were screaming in fright and trying to pry open the emergency exit but to no avail. Something had them stuck closed, leaving them trapped in here with us.

"_We can't let them harm the people. They aren't apart of this." _I think.

"**Percy don't worry about them. We need to get you out of here. I'm not quite sure you can take these two. Besides they'll probably leave once we escape. The mortals will be fine." **Adamos says.

I look over to the people all huddled by the exit doors. The little boy was crying as the chimera snarled at me, the image of my mother being held by the minotaur flashes through my mind. _"But there's still the chance that they'll be eaten."_ I think _"I can't leave them to that." _I get into a fighting position and grip Riptide tighter. _"I won't leave them to that."_

Adamos sighs in frustration. **"You're just making my job harder." **But then I feel as if he's breaking into a huge smile. **"But screw it. This way is probably more fun."**

I break out into a smile. Which the monster women notices. "Ah it seems that you've accepted your fat. You should feel honored Percy Jackson. It's not everyday that Zeus let's me test a hero with one of my brood." She says with a smile of sharp teeth. "For I am Echidna, Mother of Monster's."

I slightly falter at that. Then my mouth decides to run itself. "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"

The smile on Echidna's face morphs into a face of fury. "NO! I'm not one of those vermin! I hat it when people say that, I hate Australia, and for that your death will be slow. Sonny! Kill him!" She screeches the order at the chimera.

The chimera let out a roar that made the room vibrate and leapt at me with gnashing teeth. I rolled to the side as the chimera landed.

"QUEN." I said and the space around me flashed gold for a brief moment. I felt Adamos pump some godly power into my muscles. I then charge at the chimera, my sword in a position to strike the it in the side. But the beast turned much faster than it should and opened its mouth. A horrible stench emitted from its mouth and hit me first. I had to stamp down the urge to look away and gag. The chimera's maw then began to glow and white hot flames were shot at me.

I stopped my charge and jumped out of the way as the flames engulfed where I once was. Burning away the wall behind me and melting the steal beams like jet fuel**(I'm sorry I couldn't resist). **The heat was so intense that my clothes had singe marks on them even though I avoided the flame. I looked over to where I once was and felt winds blowing against me. The wall was completely gone. It opened completely to see the city and river.

"_Annabeth is gonna be so pissed." _I think as I see the amount of damage that the monument had taken.

"**You can worry about her killing you later. We have more pressing matters. Now dodge!" **Adamos warns. I turn back to the chimera only to see the snake tail lashing out at me. I try to dodge but I was to late as the appendage hits me. The snake's mouth was open as it tries to bite me, but my spell shield holds and all it does is hit me hard enough to knock my breath away for a second. The shield flares and cracks at the impact and then shatters. I quickly get to my feet and move before the snake head can attack again.

"Oh, he is an amusing one. Make sure you hit him twice sonny. It seems the sea spawn can use a bit of magic." Echidna says, delighted by my struggle. The chimera roars as if in acknowledgment and prepares to attack once again.

"**Were going to have to take Echidna out first." **Adamos says.

"_What? Why? Wouldn't the chimera be more the bigger threat?"_ I ask.

**We're in a two on one situation. The chimera is much harder to kill than Echidna. Trying to kill him first will just take longer. It'll be better to lessen the number of threats we have."**

I mentally nod at his assessment and it wasn't like I had another plan. I grip the amulet in my hand and pray that it works. "Hey, you ugly rat dog! I'm over here!" I taunt.

The chimera charges at me and I take off to meet it. I raise the amulet in my hand at the two and the effects are immediate. The chimera skids to a halt and recoils at the presence of the of the magical item. It roars as its's body tenses and petrifies in fear. Behind it Echidna recoils in fright as she gazes at the offending item. "Gaahh! You worthless sea bastard."

I don't stop in my charge as I rush past the chimera that backs a bit farther away from the amulet that I carry. Echidna regains recovers just enough to look at me as I charge at her. "Sonny! Save me!" She shrieks. The chimera snaps out of its fear and slowly it stiffly turns in my direction, but it was to late.

Echidna was still mostly frozen, but she brought her arms up to defend herself. But it does little as I swing Riptide in an arc. The celestial bronze blade cleaves through her arms, leaving them as nothing but stumps at the elbow. She screams in excruciating pain as her arms fall to the floor, but I quickly silence her by stabbing her through the chest. Her eyes widen, before she stares at me with a glare filled with nothing but pure hatred, before she disintegrates into golden dust.

For a moment its quiet, I turn to the chimera and raise my sword. "Your next." I say.

The chimera roars loudly, louder than before and I grit my teeth and wince as the sound hurts my ears. It looked at me with a face of pure murder. I raise the amulet to try to ward it off but it only falters for a second before getting over it and stalking towards me, somehow even angrier, its muscles tensed to pounce at a moment's notice.

"If I said I was sorry would that make you feel better?" I nervously say to the chimera, but it doesn't give any indication that it heard me. I pocket the amulet and drop into a stance, prepared to move. I feel Adamos pour his power into my muscles once more.

"QUEN!" I shout as I engage the chimera once more. It roars and tries to swipe at me with its claws. I jump back and slash, earning me a shallow cut on its body but it doesn't even seem to notice as it opens its mouth to let loose more fire. I run around it as it turns, the flames following me until it can't turn any more. The monster's size limiting its movement. I use this chance to get in close enough to stab it. My sword piercing the flesh of its side but not enough. Between the tough hide and powerful muscles my attack is once again to shallow.

The chimera roars in pain and back hands me with its paw. I raise my sword in a guard as the impact hits me. I feel my shield crack and shatter at the massive force as it knocks me onto my back. My arms were shaking and numb from the impact. The lion head roars at me and I scramble to get to my feet and back away, but this was a mistake. My focus had been focused on the front half that I managed to forget the snake tail in the back. As I scramble away, I feel a sharp burning pain in my shoulder. I turn to see the snake head with its teeth buried into my shoulder.

"**Percy!" **Adamos cries out.

I swing my sword but miss as the snake tail retreats. My shoulder began to burn like fire, the pain was excruciating as I got to my feet. The pain in my shoulder begins to dull slightly as Adamos does his best to heal the poison.

"**Percy you can't do this for much longer." **Adamos warns.

"_J-just tell me how to beat it." _I think as the edge of my vision grows a bit fuzzy.

Adamos sighs. **"The chimera was originally killed by our brother Bellerophon when he shoved a ball of lead into its maw and it choked to death."**

I wince at the information. We were six hundred feet in the air. I couldn't use the earth powers since I wasn't connected to the ground and the water was to far way for me to call. And Echidna said that Zeus sent them so using Adamos's spear was not an option.

"**Percy, I have a plan but I'm gonna need you to trust me." **Adamos said.

"_I'm sure any plan is welcome at this point."_ I thought.

"**How do you feel about high diving into the river?"**

I nearly freeze at the thought. I had read somewhere that diving into water from this height would be like hitting concrete. _"Are you insane? That'll kill me."_

"**No Percy. You're a son of Poseidon. Have faith in your heritage. Have faith in me." **Adamos says seriously.

"_Ok." _I think. Adamos tells me his plan. It was insane, dangerous, and just might work.

"Hey stupid!" I shout at the chimera. It growls at me threateningly as I position myself in front of the hole in the wall. "Maybe if you weren't such a momma's boy you wouldn't be such a failure.." I swear I saw fire in its eyes as it looked at me.

It roared as it pounced at me with reckless abandon. I immediately throw Riptide in its direction and rolled away. The sword spins through the air towards the chimera. It digs itself into its eye and the beast falls over as it lands. It then struggles to paw the sword out of its eye, and using this distraction I rush straight at it. The poison in my shoulder burning like molten lead through my veins, despite Adamos's efforts. I charge at the chimera and summon my QUEN spell like I did with the gryphon. I feel a tug in my gut as I pour as much power I could into the spell, making it flare and crack from the overload.

The chimera didn't even notice me as the it the sword created a blind spot where I was. I shoulder charged the chimera as the spell exploded like before. The sound of crash rings out and the blast was enough to knock the chimera out of the hole with me along with it. It roared and spewed fire as it fell towards the river. I myself was freaking out as I the water seemed to rush towards me at blinding speed.

The main thought going through my mind was. _"Shit, shit, shit." _I closed my eyes as I thought my life flashed before my eyes. Then I remembered something. My father's warm smile when I was younger. To young to properly remember normally.

Then the impact, except that it didn't hurt. I thought that my body would shatter once it hit the water. But I felt invigorated, I felt alive once again. The chimera was below me, struggling in the water as it tries to claw its way to the surface. I grit my teeth and draw upon my power over the water and push it further down. It tried to breathe fire, but it turned to steaming bubbles as I forced it down further. The pull in my gut became incredibly painful as I roared, giving one final push. Pulling the chimera to the bottom of the river. It's mouth flooding with water as struggles one final time before dissolving into gold dust.

I could feel my heartbeat in my ears, my body was still on fire from the poison and my vision becomes blurrier by the second. I hear think I hear Adamos shouting my name, but I can't hear him. My eyes close and I feel tired. I let my body sink to the bottom of the riverbed, and I pass out.

My last thought was, _"Not again."_

**A/N: Sup everyone. Welcome aboard the Fandom ship. This is captain Momentei speaking. Ok this is a bit later than I would have liked to post but here it is. I hope you enjoy. Also one of you said that this is closely similar to the first book. And it is. This is basically an AU of Percy's adventures and I just wanted to keep the first book similar. I have plans on how I want the rest of the books will change. Anyways I want to say that I made a change to one of Adamos's domains. I changed his war domain from combat and weapons skills to battle and weapons skills since it occurred to me that I just used the same domain twice. I wanted Adamos to represent soldiers and leaders in war like how Athena represents tacticians and strategists and Ares represents the atrocities of war and violence. That's all for this story but i'm thinking of starting a second story. A crossover of sorts between PJO and league of legends. My question is which champion I should go with. I can't decide between Pyke or Nautilus but maybe a few other champions could be used. Well anyways I hope you have a good day and leave a review you sexy beasts.**


	14. Chapter 13:The Gods Are Needy

Percy speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

**_Adamos speaking_**

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 13**

**The Gods can be so needy**

Once more I opened my eyes after falling unconscious from another near-death experience. I remembered landing in the river, but the view was different. All I could see was clear blue skies. The sound of waves gently breaking was a soothing rhythm that filled my ears. I opened and closed my hands, grasping handfuls of soft sand. The rays of sunlight felt warm on my skin and yet they never seemed too bright for my eyes. For a brief moment I thought that I had died, and this was heaven, but knowing my luck that wasn't what happened.

Finally getting tired of just staring at the peaceful blue expanse above me I raise my self onto my elbows, still mostly laying in the sand, and I look around. The beach stretched around the island. The crystal blue waters lapped near my feet. Behind me was a thick jungle that seemed to be in perpetual bloom, bright and beautiful colors that never seemed to fade. Then I saw a sight that I had seen recently. A familiar three-story beach side mansion took up most of that section of beach.

"I guess this means I'm not dead." I say as I get up and walk over to the mansion. I had the feeling that Adamos was there.

It didn't take me very long to reach the beach mansion, but I did take some time to admire the building. The smooth sea stone walls, the glass and metal rails on the balconies, the wooden patio built into the sand. It was an honest to gods dream house that I wished was mine. Walking around the expanse of the mansion I didn't find Adamos till I came to the back patio. He was laying in a long beach chair with a mattress top. He was wearing a pair of swim trunks and sunglasses and nothing else. His body was perfectly muscled while being a bit on the lean side and almost seemed like it was chiseled from stone. Next to him on his right was an empty beach chair, and in between was a cooler filled to the brim with a variety of drinks and ice. I walked over to him and stood just a bit of a ways away. I stood there staring at him, expecting him to say something but it seemed as if he didn't even register my presence in the slightest. I looked at the empty chair next to him and just shrugged my shoulders before making my self comfortable and grabbing a can of cherry coke from the cooler.

"You know if I didn't know better I would thing that you were a one and done kinda guy." Adamos said, finally breaking the silence as he took a sip of whatever he was drinking from a nondescript cup.

"One and done?" I question.

"Yeah. You have a habit of passing out after such," Adamos rolled his hand as he looked for the right words. "Strenuous activities."

"I don't pass out." I mumble, taking a sip of my cherry coke. "And its not all the time."

"Really?" Adamos challenged, his face full of amusement.

"Yeah, I mean I didn't pass out after Annabeth, Grover and I ambushed the furies or when I took Medusa from behind." I said

Adamos began to cough and pound on his chest after I finish talking. I gave him a questioning look.

"N-never mind you'll understand when you're older." Adamos waves me off.

I just shrug, not really understanding what he was talking about. We stay on that imaginary beach and just continue to drink in the pleasant atmosphere. It was quiet for a while until Adamos started to talk.

"So how do you think you did in that fight?" He asked.

I think about the fight with the chimera. I wasn't going to lie and say that I could have handled it. "I think that I need to study up on monsters and other things." I say.

"And why is that?"

I let out a sigh. "I forgot about the snake head and it bit me."

"And poisoned you. Don't forget the poison." Adamos pointed out.

"Yeah. That sucked, like so much. I mean like that was a deep pain and it just got worse." I say in exasperation. "But it's over, right? I mean I'm not hurting right now." I say as I stare at where the bite would have been on my real body.

"The poison was expunged from your veins so you should be fine. And hey another plus is your body is working on producing antibodies for the poison. So less of a chance at you dying. Maybe I should inject you with more poisons…" Adamos begins to mutter and list off plans and experiments he wanted to try.

"Woah, woah!" I say as I wave my hands in front of me to cut off his train of thought. "I would prefer if you didn't try to poison me on a regular basis, or any basis for that matter."

Adamos huffs. "Fine."

I nod at him, silently hoping he wouldn't poison me in the future just so I can have a resistance. "So are Grover and Annabeth okay?" I ask.

"They're fine. They made it out of the monument before the fight started. Now they're just being kept away by the police."

"The police?" I ask.

Adamos gives me a raised brow. "Yeah the police. A monument exploded. It wouldn't take more than a few seconds before someone called 911."

I had to resist the urge to face palm and just let out a sigh instead. "This quest is just nonstop problems."

Adamos chuckles as he finishes his drink and crushes the can. "Well as much as I love these little chats, I think that its best if you wake up. Can't have you eating up more time from my plan by missing the train."

"Alright just give me a second." I say and then down the rest of my cherry coke. It might not be real, but it was still delicious and felt perfectly chilled. "Alright I'm ready."

Adamos just snaps his fingers and everything is engulfed in white.

**Line Break**

I open my eyes once more, but I wasn't greeted with a clear blue sky this time. Instead I could see the murky surface of the river moving about with the presence of a few paddle boats. The sun seemed to turn the water into a butterscotch color.I try to sit up but my hands sink deep into the silt that I was on top of. I try to draw on some of Adamos's earth powers and concentrate on the ground below me. My eyes narrow in focus until I feel a small tug in my gut and the ground beneath me hardens so that I can properly stand.

Once I get up properly my hand reaches out and rubs where the snake head bit my shoulder. It no longer burned and there were no wounds, not even any scarring. I then begin to brush off any of the silt that was still clinging to my clothes. I feel the dryness of my clothes as I brush them off and see a glint in the corner of my eye. Turning I see also at the bottom of the river was Riptide next to what looked like a large animal pelt.

"_Probably a spoil from the chimera." _I thought. I walk over to them and pull off my backpack, which I was wearing when I fell, and open it up. I assumed it was magic because even though I opened it underwater none of the water was pouring into the open bag. I first cap riptide and put it into my pocket, my hand brushes against something and I pull it out. It was the amulet that Adamos had made, that I used against Echidna and the Chimera.

I just shrug and put it into the bag before grabbing the chimera pelt and stuffing it in to the bag. Once I had that settled, I zipped that bag shut and put it back on my shoulders. I was about to set off when I heard what sounded like a woman's voice. "Percy." The voice strangely reminded me of my mother.

I whirl around to find the voice. "Hello? Who's there?" I shout.

The only thing that seemed present was a catfish. Then through the murky waters a woman takes form. Her body was transparent like the water around her, like a ghost in the water. She had long hair and though faint she had sea green eyes like me.

"W-who are you?" I ask.

"A messenger child, one sent by your father." She says.

"My father?" I ask.

"Yes. You must go the beach in Santa Monica. It is your father's will. You must go to Santa Monica before you delve into the Underworld. Please Percy you must. I can't stay for to long as the river is to foul for my presence." She pleaded.

I didn't know what to do. My father was suddenly summoning me in the middle of the quest. What would he say? What would I say? I had so many questions running through my head.

**"Percy you need to agree to go. You can not ignore a summons from a god."** Adamos said to me.

I looked back to the floating woman. "I-I promise."

The woman smiles and reaches out to me. I felt a gentle caress on the side of my face. "Thank you, Percy. And a word of warning, don't trust the gifts" She says, her voice and body fades into the water.

I stood there for a few moments, staring at where she once was. _"What do you think she means by gifts?" _I ask Adamos.

**"Well a gift is something given to you and you were only given two things since this quest started."**

"_The sword and…"_ My eyes narrow at the thought. _"the shoes." _

I feel Adamos nod in agreement. **"All this does is confirm what we already know, and now…"**

"_Now we know that Luke was trying to sabotage the quest somehow." _I finish Adamos's thought. The third line of the prophecy rings in my head.

'you shall be betrayed by one who calls you friend'

I grit my teeth at the thought. Luke seemed like a nice guy, but it was all an act. He was trying to stop me from finding the bolt and getting my mother back.

"_Would it be to much of a stretch to believe that he has something to do with stealing the bolt?" _I ask.

**"Not even. At this point he's the prime suspect. A son of Hermes, god of thieves, he was on Olympus when the bolt was taken. I don't know how he did it but it seems like he's our thief or at the very least a deeply involved accomplice."**

_So, can't we just tell the gods he's the thief and have him spill?"_

**"No, they would just see it as you trying to pass blame, but even if they believed you, he managed to steal a symbol of power from under their noses. It's not out of possibility to think that he would have an escape plan."** Adamos explains. "**The best course of action would be to find the bolt first."**

I mentally groan. _"Why can't it just be easy for once."_

**"Yeah well life's not fair."**

"_Aren't you the god of life?" _

**"Yeah, yeah. And I say it isn't always fair. So, if you have time to sass, then get that ass out of the river. We have a train to catch."**

I didn't respond to Adamos except for a shake of my head. I then kicked up and swam to the shore. I came ashore after checking to see if there was anyone watching, but everyone seemed more focused on the emergency vehicles parked a block away around the arch. Police helicopters circled overhead.

I nearly froze when I heard a little girl shouting to her mother about the boy who came out of the river' but I relaxed when the mother just brushed it off and took her away to get a closer look at the ambulances. I walked away, trying to get far away from the scene, while also listening in on the chatter.

A news woman talked to her camera. "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but its still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."

I felt a surge of relief at the word survivors, I was dreading something might have happened to those people while I was fighting the two monsters.

"…an adolescent boy," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to be…"

I didn't stop to listen and just picked up my pace and keeping my head down.

"**Hey Percy, your famous."** Adamos chuckles.

I was about to retort when I heard a familiar bleating voice. "Perrr-cy!"

I turned and was tackle hugged by Grover with Annabeth on his heels. She wore an expression of anger but I could see faint traces of relief at my safety.

"We thought that you went to Hades the hard way!" Grover cried out.

Annabeth however wasn't sharing the sentiment. "We can't even leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"

I sheepishly rub the back of my head and chuckle. "I, uh, fought two monsters and then fell."

"WHAT?" They both nearly screamed.

Before Annabeth could start interrogating me a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple paramedics came out with a woman strapped into a stretcher. I recognized her as the mother of the little boy in the Arch. She was saying "And this huge fire breathing dog—"

"Okay ma'am," The paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is okay, and the medication will kick in soon."

"I'm not crazy!" She shouted. "This boy was fighting a giant monster and then they both fell out the hole." She said and then she saw me. "There he is. That's the boy!"

At that I grabbed Annabeth and Grover and dragged them into the crowd.

After we were a far enough distance away, I let go of their hands and slowed down to a brisk walking pace and headed back to where the bus would pick us up.

"All right Percy. Spill." Annabeth demanded. "What happened after we left."

At that I began to tell Annabeth and Grover about what happened. I left out a few details like the amulet and Adamos making the plan, and my suspicion of Luke, but I did tell them about the message to go to Santa Monica.

"Whoa," Said Grover. "We need to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."

Before Annabeth could say anything, we passed another reporter and I nearly stumbled when he said "Percy Jackson. That's right Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by the authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago and the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."

We picked up our pace and made our way through the crowd. "Ok so first things first." I said to Grover. "We need to get out of here." Both of them agreed with me and we somehow made our way back to the Amtrak station. We boarded the train and set off west. The skyline of St. Louis growing smaller and smaller.

Line Break

It had been an entire day before our train rolled into Denver in the afternoon and we had spent most of our time sleeping or just exploring the train. Annabeth had been a bit weird and was occasionally glancing at me every time she thought I wasn't looking and it was making me feel a bit self-conscious. It had also been an entire day since we had eaten and even longer since any of us had taken a shower and I think it was becoming obvious at this point.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

"We can't use phones, right?" I asked.

"I'm not talking about phones." Annabeth said.

We then walked around Denver for about a half-hour before we found what Annabeth was talking about. We came across an empty car wash. We went to the farthest stall from the street, keeping a look out for any cops that could show up.

"So, what are you doing?" I asked.

"It's seventy-five cents," Grover grumbled. "I only have two quarters. Either of you got any change."

Annabeth and I both dug into our pockets for any change that we might have had. Annabeth came up empty, but I had a quarter, which I handed to Grover. He then deposited the money into the machine and set it to fine mist.

"So, would you care to explain what you're doing?" I ask.

"I-M'ing." Grover simply stated.

**"Iris messaging. It's sending a video call by using magic and rainbows."** Adamos explained as I was confused.

"Iris messaging," Annabeth corrected Grover only to add onto Adamos's explanation. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she isn't to busy, she'll carry messages for demigods."

"So, your gonna summon a goddess with a spray gun?" I say with a raised brow.

Grover pointed the nozzle into the air, and it let out a fine mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."

Sure enough, when the light hit the mist a rainbow appeared within the vapor. Annabeth held out her hand. "Drachma please." Which I then handed to her.

"O' Iris. Goddess of the rainbow, accept our offering." She then tossed the coin into the rainbow, where it disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Half-Blood hill."

For a moment nothing happened. Then the mist morphed and the view of strawberry fields and the hills of the camp came to view. Our view was from the porch of the big house. Standing to his back to us was a guy with sandy hair and a sword at his waist, staring at something down in the meadow.

"Luke!" Annabeth shouted with excitement. I however had to force a smile at him.

Luke turned around, his eyes wide, before a grin spread across his face. "Thank the gods you are all okay. How are you all doing?"

"We're… uh… fine." Annabeth stammered. She was hopelessly trying to straighten out her messy shirt and hair.

"Where's Chiron?" I asked.

Luke's smile faded. "He's down at the cabins. We're having issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"

"_Like you actually care." _I couldn't help but mentally scoff.

"I'm right here." Grover said as he came into Luke's view. "What kind of issues?"

Then a large car pulled into the car wash with its stereo pumped up to the max, playing hip-hop. As the car pulled in the stall next to us the sub woofers were playing so loudly that it was making the pavement shake.

**"Seriously!"** Adamos exclaimed.** "No one needs their music this loud."** Though I barely heard him over the music.

"Chiron is…What's that noise?" Luke yelled.

"I'll take care of it." Annabeth yelled back, though she looked relieved to get away from the message. "Grover, come on!"

"What?" Grover said. "But—"

"Just give Percy the nozzle and come on!" Annabeth ordered. Grover just muttered something about girls being harder to understand the oracle of Delphi and then he handed me the spray gun and left.

I readjusted the nozzle and then looked back to Luke.

"Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke shouted over the music." Things are pretty tense around here, Percy. Word got out about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. Were still not sure how, but it might have been the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound."

"_So, you then." _I mentally said.

"Now the campers are starting to take sides. Its shaping up to be like the Trojan war all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus."

**"That's a lot more support than I thought he would get."** Adamos said.

"_Why?"_

**"Aphrodite was never one to fight a war unless she had to. Ares, I understand, he probably just wants to go against Athena. And Apollo I was on the fence about. I was actually thinking Hephaestus would join dad."**

As I was listening to Adamos's reasoning I heard Annabeth arguing with who ever was playing the music as the volume had reduced considerably.

"So what's your status?" Luke asked me. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you."

**"Just tell him the bare essentials."** Adamos said. So I only told Luke the barest details about my quest, while leaving out some of the more important things like my dreams. This seemed to be enough for him as he nodded as I talked.

"I wish I could be there," Luke told me. "We can't help much from here I'm afraid but listen… it had to be Hades who stole the bolt."

In my mind I couldn't help but think _"Liar."_

"He was at the winter solstice when it happened. I was chaperoning a field trip when it happened, and we saw him there."

"But gods can't steal each other's symbols of power. Chiron said its one of their most serious ancient laws." I said.

"That's true." Luke said, though he started to look troubled. "Still… Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible."

We were both silent. Internally Adamos was ranting in my head. "**Shit, shit, that's how he did it."**

"_What are you talking about?" _I ask.

**"How he stole the bolt. And the answer to another mystery."** When Adamos sensed I still didn't get it he started t explain. **"Somehow Luke must have gotten his hands on the Helm of Darkness and used that to steal the master bolt."**

"_And the furies are looking for something of Hades. So that means the Helm of Darkness is missing." _I think and my eyes widen at the realization.

Luke however thought that I was thinking something else. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never… I mean, she's like a little sister to me."

I was barely giving his words any thought though. Then in the stall next to us where Grover and Annabeth were, I heard the music shut off completely but was then followed by a scream of terror and the sound of screeching wheels as it rocketed out of the car wash.

"You'd better go and see what that was," Luke said. "Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'd feel better if I knew you were making good use of them."

I had to force another smile onto my face. "Yeah, they have come in real handy."

"Really?" He grinned. "They fit and everything?" Then the water shut off and the mist began to evaporate. "All right Percy, just take care of your self in Denver," Luke called out as his voice grew fainter. "And tell Grover it'll be okay this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just—" Then the mist disappeared, and Luke's message went unheard.

Annabeth and Grover came around the corner laughing but stopped when they saw me. Annabeth gave me a curious gaze. "What happened Percy? What did Luke say?"

"Not much," I lied. "Just to do our best." I didn't want to worry them about the troubles at camp or the message to Grover. "Come on let's get something to eat. I'm starving."

After a few minutes more of searching we came across a diner that seemed like a decent place to eat. All around us people were eating dinners and drinking sodas and shakes. After what seemed like forever for my ADHD addled brain a waitress came over with her note book to take our orders. She raised her eyebrow skeptically.

"Well?" She said, with no attempt to hide her skepticism.

I said. "We would like to order."

"You kids have money to pay for it?" She asked.

Grover's lower lip quivered, and just from looking at him I was afraid that he would start bleating, or worse, eat the linoleum. Annabeth looked like she was about to pass out from hunger. I was about to dig through my backpack for some of the money I had left to show the waitress we could pay when a rumble shook the whole building. A massive motorcycle pulled up into the curb. As if someone had flipped a switch, all conversation in the diner stopped.  
The headlight glowed a menacing red, the gas tank had flames painted on it and a shotgun holster on either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather but looked like it was from human skin.

The guy that was riding the monster of a machine looked like he would make some of the toughest men run for mama. He was dressed in a red muscle and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. His face was one of the cruelest and brutal faces I had ever seen. In a way it was handsome, I guess. On his face he wore a pair of wraps around sunglasses, but I could sense a violent power behind them.

Adamos's voice was tense and irate, it was almost to the point of growling as he spoke. **"Ares."**

As Ares walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All of the people in the diner rose in sync, as if hypnotized, but Ares waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down. Then as if nothing had happened, they all went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked and once again asked. "You kids have money to pay for it?"

"Its on me." Ares said as he slid into our booth and squished Annabeth into the wall. He looked back up to the waitress and said, "Are you still here?" He then snapped his fingers and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around and marched back to the kitchen.

Ares turned in my direction and his gaze locked onto me. As looked at me all sorts of bad feelings began to burn within me. I felt angry, bitter, I felt like punching this guy in his stupid face, but as soon as the feelings came, they were soothed, like I had been dipped into a cool pool of water.

**"Ares is the god of war and bloodshed. His mere presence will incite you to be aggressive."** Adamos said but I could feel that he was restraining his own fury, even if his voice was calm and even.

At this I looked at my two companions. Grover was extremely tense, and his mouth was formed into what was almost a snarl, but he looked more constipated than anything else. Annabeth seemed to be faring better, but her nails were dug so deep into the table I was sure the pieces were chipped off.

I looked back at the god of war and he gave me a wicked grin. "So, your old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

"What's it to you?" I asked as I kept my composure, showing that he wasn't getting to me. This seemed to work as Ares barely raised a brow at how calm I was, but then returned that wicked grin.

Annabeth's eyes flashed me a warning. "Percy, this is—"

Ares just raised his hand to silence her. "S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember whose boss. You know who I am, little cousin."

**"You're that whiny bitch baby that I vividly remember showing whose top dog, by planting my foot somewhere between your lungs and colon."** Adamos couldn't help but mock in my mind.

"Your Clarisse's dad." I said. "Ares, god of war."

Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should have been, there was only fire in the sockets. It felt menacing and threatening, a vast difference than when I had looked at Adamos's eyes and felt a mix of fun loving and relaxing feelings.

"That's right punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."

"That and a few of your other children." I say with a bit of a smirk. "But they were asking for it."

"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids battles. But that's not what I came here for. I actually have a proposition for you." Ares said.

Then the waitress came back with a large tray of burgers, onion rings, fries, and sodas. Ares handed her a few drachmas. She looked nervously at the coins. "But these aren't—"

Ares pulled out his knife and started to clean the dirt from under his nails. "Problem, sweetheart?" The waitress swallowed and quickly left with the gold.

"You can't do that," I told Ares. "You can't just threaten people with a knife." I felt Adamos shake his head at the situation, whether it was from me trying to tell Ares what he shouldn't do or just at Ares for being Ares, maybe it was both.

Ares laughed at my statement." Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a little favor."

"What favor could I do a god?" I ask.

"Something that a god doesn't have the time to do himself. Its nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little… date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted and I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me." Ares explained.

"And why can't you just get it yourself?" I questioned.

The fires in his eyes seemed to intensify. "Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself kid. That is what you 'heroes'," He said the word heroes like it was a joke, "to prove that your not a coward, that your worthy of love from daddy dearest."

I wanted to punch him in the face, my anger was rising only to be cooled down by Adamos. Ares was trying to provoke me into attacking him, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him see that he got to me.

**"Percy you need to accept. Refusing a gods request will only make this quest harder."** Adamos said in disappointment.** "As much as I hate this, we don't have a choice."**

"Fine," I grit my teeth at having to give in to this guy. "I'll get back your shield."

Ares clapped his hands together. The clap sounded like a boom that rung in my ears, Annabeth and Grover were also wincing from it, but Ares seemed to either not notice nor care. "Now was that so hard. And since I'm feeling so generous, I'll even get you a ride west if you bring it back. Help you get to old Corpse breathe faster."

"Wait how do you kn—" I started to say but Ares cut me off.

"Know about your quest? Kid when the bolt was stolen Zeus sent out his best to track it down: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. And if I couldn't find a weapon that powerful…" Ares licked his lips at the idea. "Anyways… If I couldn't find it then you got no chance. But I'm willing to believe in you. I mean I was the one who told your dad about my suspicions of that Boney bastard."

"You told him Hades stole the bolt?"

"Sure did." He said with a smirk.

"_Framing some one to start a war." _

**"Oldest trick in the book."**

"In a way you have me to thank for this little quest." Ares's face still held the proud smirk.

"Thanks." I grumble sarcastically.

"Your welcome." Ares said, ignoring my sarcasm. "Now get going, I want my shield back ASAP. You'll find the park a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the tunnel of love ride."

"What interrupted your date?" I ask. "Something scare you off?"

Ares bared his teeth at me in a snarl. I had seen this look from Clarisse, but this looked fake, as if he was more nervous than threatening. "You're lucky that you met me punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me."

After that I blinked, and Ares was gone. Annabeth and Grover's eyes though were a bit glazed over, but they snapped out of it rather quickly.

"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out Percy. This is not good." He was trembling in his seat.

"Alright let's get this over with." I say with a sigh before eating enough of my food that I was satisfied. Grover and Annabeth both did the same. "You two don't have to come with. He asked me to get the shield for him." I say as I look at the two. The looked horrible and tired. I knew I didn't look much better but as night time was rolling around, I was starting to feel a bit better. Thank you, night domain.

Annabeth gave me a critical look. "We're coming with you. We're also apart of this quest and I don't even know if I could trust you alone. And not after the Arch." She said. Grover just sorta nodded in agreement.

I held my hands out in a placating manner. "Ok, jeez. We can go together. No need to bite my head off." I said. Annabeth's stare lessened but it wasn't fully gone. We then left the diner and began our walk west to the water park.

"Why do you think Ares needs us?" I ask as we were walking.

"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength must bow to wisdom sometimes."

**"_And wisdom must bow to spirit and will." _**Adamos spoke aloud with confidence and conviction at the statement.

Annabeth gave a disbelieving look, a look that said, 'are you stupid?'. "That sounds stupid, like the kind of metaphorical garbage on a calendar."

**"_Well clearly you're too narrow minded to understand." _**Adamos said challengingly.

"Excuse me." Annabeth said heatedly.

"Look, forget it." I said, trying to salvage this conversation after i gain control. "Lets just discuss this water park. There has to be something there that's pretty bad if a god would rather run away than do it himself."

Annabeth cooled down but still had anger in her eyes. "We'll just have to find out when we get there." She spoke.

The sun was starting to dip behind the mountains by the time we made it to the water park. The place was trashed. The main gate was padlocked shut with barbed wire on top of the fence and the sign was missing a few letters. Inside Huge tubes and pipes jutted out of everywhere, leading to empty pools. Trash littered the ground. As night approached this place became creepier by the moment.

"If Ares brings his girlfriend here on a date," I said as I looked at the abandoned place. "I'd hate to see what she looks like."

**"Percy can't you remember anything I teach you."** Adamos said rhetorically.

"Percy, you should be more respectful." Annabeth warned.

"I thought you hated Ares?" I asked.

"He's still a god, and his girlfriend can be temperamental."

"And you don't want to insult her looks."

"Who is she? Echidna?" I say jokingly.

"No, Aphrodite," Grover said, a little dreamily. "Goddess of love."

"I thought she was married to Hephaestus." I said.

"What's your point?" He asked.

"Oh," I felt the need to change the subject. "So how are we getting in?"

"Maia!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings and he flew over the fence, with an unintended somersault in mid air and landed. He dusted off his jeans, as if he planned the whole thing. "You guys coming?"

Annabeth started to climb the fence when I stopped her. "What are you doing?" I asked.

She gave me a look. "Isn't it obvious? I'm climbing over. Now help me hold down the barbed wire."

"Or," I said as I uncapped Riptide and slashed the lock. It looked pretty rusty after years of disuse, so it seemed breakable. "We can just go through the gate." I said as I pushed the gate open.

Annabeth just climbed down and walked past me with a blush on her face. The shadows seemed to grow as we walked through the water park. No monsters came to get us, heck there wasn't even any noise in the park. We passed by a bunch of stalls until we crossed a souvenir shop that was left open. The shelves were still lined with stuff like snow globes, pencils, and even clothes. At this Annabeth's face lit up.  
"Clothes." She cheered. "Fresh clothes."

"Your really gonna wear this stuff?" I asked.

"I've been wearing this shirt for three days straight. Watch me." She then snatched a bunch of clothes off the rack and disappeared into the changing room. A few minutes later she came out wearing flower print shorts, a big red shirt with the parks logo on the front and surf shoes. A commemorative backpack was slung over her shoulders, stuffed with more things.

"What the heck." Grover shrugged and followed her lead. A few more minutes later he came out wearing something similar to Annabeth. "Hey Percy, aren't you going to change?" He asked.

"Yeah—no, I actually have spare changes of clothes that I brought with me in my magic pack." I say pointing to the backpack on my back.

"Wait couldn't you give us some then?" Grover said in disbelief.

I give both of them a once over. "Actually, I don't think were the same size, so no."

Grover deflated a bit but nodded. Both he and Annabeth were taller than me so my clothes wouldn't have fit them. We continued to look for the tunnel of love.

"So Ares and Aphrodite, they have a thing?" I asked. I only wanted break the silence as the silence was creeping me out a bit.

"That's old gossip, Percy, Three-thousand-year-old gossip." Annabeth told me.

"But what about her husband?"

"Well, you know," she said "Hephaestus. The blacksmith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus, so he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands and all but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"

While Annabeth was talking, I felt Adamos stiffen in my head. I noticed and began to question him. _"What did you do?"_

**"What are you talking about?"** He tries to sound nonchalant.

"_Bullshit. You know something." _

**"The legend actually goes like this. After Hephaestus was born Hera asked me to babysit him for a bit while she went to do a few errands. Zeus didn't know I was watching him so when he found me with Hephaestus, he demanded I let him go and tried to take him away. He also accused me of doing other stuff behind his back with Hera just because I would often meet with her for social visits. Anyways in the issuing struggle I might have lost my grip and Zeus got Hephaestus, but he didn't have a good hold either and then he might have accidentally thrown… him… off… Olympus."** Adamos said. His voice seemed to be getting quieter as he spoke.

I was speechless. That had to be one of the stupidest legends I had ever heard. Two gods fighting over a baby in a misunderstanding, accidentally throw the baby off of Olympus. It actually sounded a bit funny but for the life of me I couldn't find it humorous at all.

I was broken from my thoughts when Annabeth shook my shoulder. She was pointing at an attraction up ahead. Ahead of us was a large empty bowl that was at least fifty yard across. Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of cupid stood guard. On the opposite side was a tunnel that I figured the water would flow into when the pool was full. The sign read 'THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: This isn't your parents' tunnel of love'.

Grover crept to look over the edge. "Guys, look." He pointed to the center.

In the center of the bowl was a marooned two-seater heart shaped boat. In the seats was Ares's shield, a circle of polished bronze.

"This is just too easy." I said. "So we just go down and grab it?" I ask them.

Annabeth ran her fingers along one of the statues. "There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder…."

**"An Eta?"** Adamos said.** "That must mean that this is one of Hephaestus's traps for Ares and Aphrodite."**

"All right I'll go down and get it." I said.

"I'll go with you." Grover said.

"No, I'll do it. You stay up here in case I need backup." I said. When Grover seemed to deflate, I quickly added on. "I mean you seem to be pretty good with those shoes so come to my rescue f something happens okay?"

That seemed to do the trick as he straightened up. "Sure. But what could go wrong."

I dropped down into the bowl and Annabeth followed after me, her cheeks blushed as she stared at the sign.

"Why'd you follow me?" I asked.

"I couldn't let you do this alone, you'd probably find a way to mess it up." She said. Internally though I was face palming at Annabeth's attempts to lead.

We reached the boat. The shield was propped onto the seat and next to it was a lady's silk scarf. I kept looking around to see if there was any sort of trap that Hephaestus might have set. I didn't see any thing on the scarf, so I picked it up and looked at it. It shimmered pink and smelled great. I was about to put it into my pocket when Annabeth tried to snatch it away but failed.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"Keeping you away from that. It's filled with love magic." Annabeth said.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Yeah well I'm keeping it." I said as I stuffed it into my pocket.

Once again Annabeth tried to grab it once more but tripped on a loose board that was sticking up from the floor of the boat. She fell forward and knocked the shield off the seat. Something glittered in the air from the remaining light the sun was giving. It looked like a cobweb but when I caught it I could see that it wasn't. It was a metal string so fine it was almost invisible.

At the same moment Adamos had the same thought. _"We_ll _s_hi_t."_

Noise erupted all around us, like a thousand gears turning under the whole pool.

Grover yelled. "Guys!"

Up on the rim of the pool the cupid statues had drawn their bows and started to fire at each other from across the pool. Golden cables were trailing their arrows, and then anchoring to the ground. They crossed together to form a huge asterisk over the rim. Then the golden threads began to weave between each other, making a net.

"We have to get out!" I said.

"Duh!" Annabeth said as she got off the floor.

"Not the time Annabeth!" I shouted and then grabbed Ares's shield and put it on my arm. It would suck to go through this and not return with the shield.

"Come on!" Grover shouted. He was trying to hold the threads apart, but the threads began to wrap around his hands as he tried.

The cupids' heads popped open. Out came video camera's and spot lights rose out of the pool and blinded us. A loudspeaker voice boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute… fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight—"

"Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed. "I'm so stupid. Eta is H. He made this trap to catch Ares and Aphrodite. Now we're going to be broadcast to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"

"I think we have worse things to worry about than our self-image." I said as I pointed to the pipes that were in the wall of the bowl. Thousands of small metallic things began to crawl out of the openings.

Annabeth screamed It was an army of bronze mechanical spiders. I remembered when Adamos pranked the Athena cabin by putting a giant fake spider in front of their door and the couldn't leave for hours. Annabeth looked to be on the verge of a panic attack. She jumped onto the top of the seat of the love boat in the hopes of getting father away from the mechanical arachnids.

"_Anyway, to stop these things?" _I asked Adamos.

**"These things were meant to trap a god, and you're not a god so I suggest not letting them bite you."** Adamos said.

I began to use the shield to batter the spiders away and was a bout to yell at Annabeth to help me, but she was too far gone to do more than whimper and scream.

Grover was hovering above the pool in his flying sneakers, trying to pull different parts of the net loose, but to no avail.

"Percy if this ride has an entrance it must also have an exit. Try to find a way to get to it." Adamos instructed.

I looked around and then saw the tunnel. There had to be way out through there, but the problem was how to get to it. I looked around and then saw what could help.

"Fourteen, thirteen—" The loud speaker said.

"Grover!" I shouted. "Get into that booth! Find the ON switch."

"But—"

"Just do it!" I yelled. It was a crazy hope., but it was the only one I had. The spiders were swarming the boat and Annabeth was in no condition to help. Grover was now in the control station punching buttons.

"Five, four—"

Grover looked up at me and raised his hands. He had pushed every button, and nothing was happening.

I closed my eyes and tried to call the water to me.

**"Think of the oceans Percy. The rivers, lakes, and all bodies of water. Call them to you."** Adamos spoke in my head.

I followed his instructions and pictured rivers, and oceans. I felt a pull in my gut that got worse by the second, but I didn't stop. I could feel the water coming.

"Two, one, zero" The loud speaker shouted.

Water then exploded from the pipes and began to swirl around the boat in a whirlpool, then lifted it into the current. My eyes were narrowed, and my brow was crinkled in concentration. The current began to pick up the spiders and smash them together or short circuit them. I pulled Annabeth into the seat next to me as we spun in circles in the whirlpool. The pool was littered with bronze pieces.

I was focusing on the boat and was willing the currents to not capsize the boat. We kept on spinning until we were close enough to the golden threads that our heads almost scrapped the top. I didn't feel like getting a haircut, so I focused once more and the pull in my gut worsened before the boat sailed out of the whirl pool and into the dark tunnel.

Annabeth was holding onto me tight as we rocketed through winding turns and drops in the dark. I was also screaming but I could barely hear it with the roar of the water and Adamos shouting whee. I could see in the dark perfectly fine though and what I saw mad me blanche. We were almost out of the tunnel, but what scared me was the two boats in front of a locked gate that would have led to the exit pool.

"Get up!" I shouted at Annabeth.

"Are you crazy?!" She yelled back.

"Unless you want to get smashed to death, we're going to have to jump." My idea was simple. We just needed to jump at the right time and use the boat as a spring board to get over the gate and land in the pool.

Annabeth seemed to understand and stood up.

"_Can you say when?"_

**"Just leave it to me."**

"On my mark!"

"No! On my mark!"

"Is this really the time!" I argue.

"Just do what I say! Its simple physics. Force time the trajectory ang—"

"Fine!" I shout getting angry. She was really testing my patience. "Jump whenever you want!"

We waited as we rushed towards the gate.

**"…. Now!"** Adamos shouted in my mind. I then vaulted off the boat as it cracked against the gate. Annabeth had leapt a split second after me.

We were flying through the air before I landed in the exit pool, but I had to use my water powers to slow myself down or I would have hit my skull on the other end of the pool. Annabeth also made it over with maximum lift. However, it was too much lift as she sailed past the pool and towards the asphalt, only to be saved by Grover swooping in on his flying shoes, but Annabeth had the momentum and caused them to dive bomb and smash into a photo board. Grover's head went straight into the whole of the park's mascot Noo-Noo the whale. Annabeth just hit the board and tumbled to the ground.

I immediately crawled out of the pool and ran over to them, hoping they were ok.

"You ok?" I asked Annabeth as I helped her to her feet.

"Everything hurts." She groans out. I took that as a sign that she was ok. I went over to help Grover and once I saw how he landed Adamos broke out into laughter at how he landed. I couldn't help but chuckle as well as I got him out of the whale cutout.

I turned back to the Thrill Ride of Love. The cupid cameras were pointed at us as the spotlights swiveled to our direction.

**"Like any great showman you must give a proper send off Percy."** Adamos said and I could tell he had a huge grin on his face.

I spread my arms out. "Show's over." I shout. "Thank you! Good night!" I shout with a bow. The cupids then turn back to normal and the lights shut off. The park was once again quiet and abandoned, except for the faint trickle of water from the Thrill Ride of Love. I wondered what our ratings would be like before shoving the thought aside.

I had more important things to think about. I tightened the straps of the shield on my arm and turned to Grover and Annabeth. "Let's go have a talk with Ares."

**A/N: Ok so this is now done. Hey there everyone, this is Captain Momentei here. Ahoy. First things first. I wrote the first chapter of a second story. It's a league of legends crossover with Percy Jackson. I got the inspiration from another story called Of Red Petals and Black Feathers by Unseen Lurker. I had a hard time choosing which champion to use but I went with Nautilus in the end. But never fear my peeps. This story is still the primary focus of mine. Anyways I would like you to check out my other story and write a review for both my stories. Constructive criticism is the basis for a good writer after all.**

**Momentei out**


	15. Chapter 14:What Happens In Vegas

Percy speaking

_Percy's thoughts_

**_Adamos speaking_**

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 14**

**What Happens in Vegas**

I was not in the best of moods. The three of us had just left the water park with the shield strapped to my arm. The sun had set behind the mountains, casting the city of Denver in a massive shadow. I was walking ahead of the group with Annabeth and Grover behind me. Grover was trying his best to talk to Annabeth but whatever he was doing wasn't working in the slightest as I swear, I could feel the girl trying to burn a hole through my head with her gaze. I finally had enough with her attitude. I turn on my heel suddenly facing the offending blonde.

"Alright what is you deal." I demand.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth narrows her eyes.

"You heard me. What. Is. Your. Problem" I emphasize each word by stepping forward.

Annabeth though didn't back down. "I don't HAVE a problem."

"Than what have you been doing these past few days other than giving me looks every time you don't think I'm watching."

Annabeth turned to look away, but I had a feeling it was less about feeling guilty and more about being caught.

"Guys I don't think that you—" Grover started.

"No!" I cut him off. "I'm doing this now. You've been giving me dirty looks and even back at the water park with the scarf. You could have gotten us killed."

"You want to know what my problem is? My problem is you." She says pointedly. "I don't trust you."

"How am I the problem?" I say in disbelief.

"You've only been at camp for a week and have barely any training and your given a quest. And some how you manage to kill four monsters already. That doesn't just happen."

"So what." I say dismissively.

"Those aren't just some monsters." Annabeth says heatedly. "The furies, Medusa, the Chimera and Echidna are some of the most dangerous monsters out there. And some how you were able to kill them."

Yes because me fighting for my life is so unbelievable." I say sarcastically.

"No it's the fact that you walked away alive. Many people have died trying to fight those monsters and you managed to kill them. No one is that good when they start. And all this stuff you seem to have. It doesn't make sense."

"It's just a backpack."

A magic backpack that was given to you by a goddess. The gods don't interfere with these things. You even know magic. No one else at camp knows magic so there's know way they could have taught you. Even Chiron doesn't teach magic. Everything about you is just unnatural."

"Where do you get off accusing me." I glare at her. "I have done nothing but try to get through this stupid quest as best I can. I'm good because I practice when everyone else goes to sleep, the backpack is something I got from Hestia because I asked her for help. She even taught me the one spell because she thought it would help me find my mother."

"The mom that Hades is keeping prisoner." Annabeth says.

"Yes. She's there because of me. Because I wasn't strong enough. And I'll do whatever it takes to get her back." My voice started to get smaller at the thought before filling with conviction. Grover looked away ashamedly as I brought up the event.

"Your better off just forgetting her." Annabeth said.

"What?"

"Hades has her. There's no point in trying to get her back, Hades is cruel and manipulative and won't give her back just because you asked. Besides it might just be best to move on." Annabeth spoke with venom in her voice when talking about the lord of the dead.

I felt anger bubbling up, anger that I would have felt in the presence of Ares. "Where do you get off! You don't know about her. Just because you hate your family doesn't mean that my mom deserves to be held against her will. She is the best person I know and deserves the best this world has to offer." I was almost shouting in anger.

Annabeth's face contorts to one of fury. "Can't you just get it through your thick seaweed brained head. You can't make a deal with Hades and you can't get your mom back. More often than not mortal parents are just a complete let down. There's no point in being around them because they would only get rid of you as soon as they can."

"How would you know what they feel. Maybe your dad is worried about you right now. Maybe he thinks he's made a mistake. How would you know if you just easily gave up?" Annabeth and I were now shouting at each other in the street. Luckily the streets were vacant except for us.

"ENOUGH!" Grover shouted. It drew both of our attentions to him. "You two arguing is giving me a migraine, and satyrs can't get migraines. Can't you two just work together?" His voice almost sounded like pleading.

Annabeth just huffed and walked past me with out a word, her face still looking very angry. I, myself let out a breath of exasperation.

"Lets just return this shield." I say as I begin to walk off in the same direction, Grover following me after a second of him massaging his temples.

**"Well that was a thing."** Adamos speaks up.

"_I don't want to deal with you right now." _I mentally say.

**"Geez man what crawled up your ass?"**

"_You know whats wrong."_ I say heatedly.

**"I do know. And in my expert opinion I think you need to do something to get this group back together."**

"_Why should I. She obviously doesn't want to have anything to do with this." _

**"Of course not. Children of Athena have always had problems with… self-importance. They can never admit that they are wrong in something even if it's obvious."**

"_So, I have to apologize to her?" _I didn't like the idea. I personally though that she was being unreasonable.

**"No. You are going to have to be the bigger person."**

"_So just apologize now?" _

**"Oh shit no."** Adamos says. **"Wait a while. Right now, you trying to apologize will just set her off. And as funny as that might be, I don't need anymore obstacles in this quest."**

I continue walking away and trying to think of how I was going to make this possible in my head. It was honestly a lot harder than I thought it would be.

After about fifteen minutes we finally made it back to the diner. Ares was waiting in the parking lot, leaning against his massive bike.

I felt an uncomfortable feeling go up my body.

"_What's up?" _I ask

**"I…I don't know. I feel something but I can't put my finger on it, but somethings up with his bike."**

"_Maybe you'll figure it out." _I mentally say as I walk closer to Ares.

"Well, well." Ares said with a sow clap. "You didn't get yourselves killed."

"You knew it was a trap." I said as we walked up to him.

Ares gave us a wicked grin. "Yeah. Gotta say that you put on quite a show. Bet ole Hephy wasn't expecting to nab you kids in his trap."

I took the shield off my arm and shove it at the god of war. "You're an ass."

Annabeth and Grover suck in a tense breath.

Ares though just chuckles and grabs the shield and spins it. The shield turns into a bulletproof vest (bullet resistant according to Adamos) and straps it to his back. "All right punks, and as promised I got you your ride."

"Where is it?" Annabeth asks as we look around.

Ares snaps his fingers and suddenly the back doors of an eighteen wheeler open up. "You ride west, Straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas.

"You have to be kidding me." Grover mutters, and I was sharing his feelings. The truck wasn't the best looking one in the lot. The sign on the side of the vehicle was written in big bold letters: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT.

"Free ride west goat, so quit your complaining." He then turned to me. "And here's a little something extra for the job."

Ares grabbed a blue backpack off his bike and threw it at me, the bag had enough force that it slightly winded me when I caught it. My senses were telling me that the bag was magical somehow. I knew Adamos could feel it as well but he wasn't saying anything so it must not need my immediate attention. I opened the bag and inside was fresh clothes, some cash, a pouch of golden drachmas, and a bag of double stuffed Oreos.

"Thanks, I guess." I say and hold the bag at my side. I didn't want anything from the god, but we were running low on funds already and I might have a love for those Oreos. "And what about the info on my mom." I asked.

"Huh?" Ares said as he hopped onto his bike. "Oh right, guess I did say that. All right your moms not dead."

A few moments of silence passed by with Grover and for some reason Annabeth were looking at me tensely.

"Anything else?" I asked.

Ares raised an eyebrow. "What? No response. I'm telling you that your moms not dead."

"I know. Its not exactly news if I already knew about it." I said.

Ares shrugs. "Guess I don't have anything for ya. See ya around punk." He then rides out of the parking lot on his motorcycle.

After he let the three of us climbed into the back of the truck and closed the doors behind us. I didn't like it but we didn't really have much in the way of transport otherwise.

The first thing that hit me once we closed the door was the smell. The inside of the trailer smelled like rank kitty litter. The sight though was a sad scene. Three of the saddest looking animals sat in filthy cages along the wall. There was a zebra, an albino lion, and a weird animal that looked a lot like an antelope, which Adamos told me was a springbok

In front of the lion was a sack of turnips that it had no interest in eating, and the zebra and springbok were trays of hamburger meat. The Zebra and lion's manes were matted and unkempt, like some one had spit on them. On the horn of the springbok was a party balloon.

The animals were pacing around soiled blankets with flies buzzing around them. I could actually see their bones through their fur.

**"This will not stand."** Adamos growled at the sight. He then started muttering in the back of my mind about mergers, laws and lawsuits. I couldn't really follow what he was saying so I just looked for a place to sit.

A slight crashing sound echoed from behind me. I saw that Annabeth was waving her hands out in front of her while Grover was kneeling on the ground next to a tipped over box.

"You guys okay?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, just fine. Except for the fact that we can fricken see!" Annabeth whispered harshly. Grover managed to get himself upright again but almost tripped on the same box he knocked over. It took me a moment to realize that they couldn't see in the dark like me. I had gotten used to being able to see in the dark so I forgot that others couldn't do it.

"Hold on." I said and then pulled out Riptide. I uncapped the pen and it turned into a sword. The blade glowed and filled the trailer with a soft glow that was enough for them to see clearly.

Grover took one look around at the animals in the trailer. "This is kindness." He yelled. "Humane zoo transport?" He looked like he was ready to go out there and attack somebody with his reed pipes. Then the truck roared to life and jerked forward. We all sat down in the truck so that we didn't fall over. We each sat away from each other with Grover in-between us. He was talking to the animals in bleats but they just kept giving him sad looks. I used Riptide to drag the turnips out of the lion cage and changed it with the meat, but the lion still didn't touch it. I even found a jug of water and refilled their bowls but that didn't work either. I then sat down on the floor.

**"Something is seriously off about this bag."** Adamos said.

"_What bag?" _

**"The one that Ares gave us. Its got a heavy amount of mist over it."**

"_I guess. It does feel a bit weird. Like its got a weird weight to it, if that makes sense." _I think.

**"Give me a sec."** Adamos says and I feel something stir in me. **"I'll move the mist around so we can see what its hiding."**

I looked around and saw Grover and Annabeth. Both had somehow managed to fall asleep even thought the trailer was jostling us around like a roller-coaster. Grover was even spooning the bag of turnips that I took from out of the lion's cage. It took about a minute before Adamos was finished.

**"Holy crap this thing was hiding a lot of power."** Adamos said

"_What do you mean?" _I ask. I move the backpack around. It didn't look any different to me.

**"Whatever is being concealed in the bag just oozes massive amounts of energy."**

I open up the backpack and start digging through the stuff inside. I dug through it multiple times and was about to give up when I noticed something. Along the bottom of the bag was stitching. It was so well done that it seemed to blend in with the bag. I grab a slightly loose thread and began to pull it loose. The hidden compartment slowly comes undone and a faint glow seeps out. I pull the patch back to get a good look at what its hiding.

My eyes nearly bug out at the sight. _"Holy—"_

**"—shit,"** Adamos finishes.** "He did it! That stupid jackass had it!"** Adamos rants in my head. I was barely paying attention to him as I stared at the glowing object in the bag. It was a glowing rod that arced with electricity.

"_Is that what I think it is?" _

**"Yep, Percy Jackson, behold the master bolt. The mighty symbol of Zeus and yadda yadda."**

I immediately close the bag and look around to see if Grover or Annabeth had seen the light coming from the bag.

"**That's what was off. The masterbolt was with Ares. I knew that something was off, but with the heavy magic coating it and Ares's presence… God dammit I can't believe that I missed that."**

"_Woah, woah," _I say before Adamos can go off on another rant. _"We have the bolt now. We can give it to Zeus and then he can get my mom back. Everything will be ok."_ I think. For the first time since this quest began I had hope.

Adamos gives a humorless laugh **"Hah, Zeus isn't gonna help you get you mom back."** My hope takes a left turn and jumps out a window. **"Only way to get your mom back is if we talk to Hades. Besides he still thinks that you stole something from him."** Adamos lets out a frustrated sigh.** "Get some sleep Percy. I'll figure out what we'll do next."**

"Great." I mumble. Then a feeling of tiredness washes over me, and I slowly close my eyes. At least a major part of the quest was solved I thought before I drifted to sleep.

Once again, I had another nightmare, this one was just like countless others that I had before. I was strapped down in a straight jacket with a test in front of me. I could hear the sound of other kids playing outside as I sat in the desk. The voices of teachers echoed in my head, they were saying 'Come on Percy. You're not stupid, are you? Pick up your pencil.'

I looked over to the desk next to me and saw a girl sitting there. She was dressed up in punk clothing, with wild punk black hair. She had intense electric blue eyes and freckles across her nose.

The name Thalia was floating around in my head when I saw her.

She was struggling in her own straight jacket, before look straight at me.

"Well kelp head? One of us has to get out of here." She said before going back to struggling.

I just stared for a bit at her as she struggled. In my head I couldn't help but think that she was kind of attractive. I shake my head to get the thoughts away and try to escape from the straitjacket. I couldn't stay here. My mother needed me.

The straitjacket then melted off my body and I fell through the floor. The voices of the teachers went away until there was only one left. It changed and distorted until it sounded cold and metallic.

"Percy Jackson," It said. "The exchange went well it seems."

I looked around to try and find the voice, but it was nowhere. I did get a good look and saw that I was back in the cavern with the pit and the spirits of the dead wandering about. The unseen voice was speaking but this time it wasn't to me, but rather to someone else.

Another voice spoke out, I almost recognized it, but it was slightly distorted. "Yes, my lord. He seems as ignorant as the rest." I tried to find this one, but he was also invisible.

"Deception upon deception," The pit mused. "Excellent."

"Truly my lord," The familiar voice said. "You are deserving of the name Crooked One." My breathe hitched in my throat at the name. Adamos had spoke that name with Hestia and it was enough to scare her.

"But was it really necessary? I could have brought what I stole directly—"

"You?" The pit cuts him off. "You have already shown your limits. You would have failed me completely if I had not intervened."

"But my lord—"

"Peace my little servant. Zeus's anger has grown and forced Poseidon to play his final card and we shall play it against him. However, you must be wary of the boy."

"My lord?"

"His mind is protected by something. Something that I do not know… But wait. He's here."

"What?" The familiar voice sounded tense. "You summoned him, my lord?"

"No," The pit said, and it felt like it was now focusing on me. It felt like a wave of power was washing over me but something was keeping it at bay. "What protects you boy?" The pit said, frustration was seeping into it. "What lets you come here yourself?"

"But that's impossible. He can't bring himself here!" The familiar voice cried.

"For a weakling like you perhaps," The pit snarled. Then it turned back to me and tried to flood me with more of its power. "What secrets do you keep boy!" It growled. Then everything around me flared in gold.

"Gragh!" The pit roared in pain as the power stopped trying to attack me. I then was violently pulled out of the dream. The voice roared at me "You shall not escape me Jackson!"

I then woke with a start.

Grover was shaking my shoulder. Annabeth wasn't even looking at me. I could tell she was still angry at me, but it seemed to have withered considerably.

"The trucks stopped." Grover said. "We think that they are coming to check on the animals."

I then heard two faint voices outside of the truck getting closer to the doors

"Hide!" Annabeth hissed, she then disappeared as she put on her hat.

Grover and I had to dive behind a bag of turnips and hope for the best. Then the doors to the trailer opened a bit. Sunlight and heat poured into the metal container.

"Man!" One of the truck drivers said as he waved a hand in front of his nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He then climbed inside and poured water into the bowls of the animals. "To hot for your big boy?" He asked the lion, as he splashed a bucket of water on it. The lion roared in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," The man said. The trucker then tossed a happy meal container at the springbok. He then smirked as he stepped in front of the zebra. "How ya doin Stripes?" The trucker said. "At least you'll be getting off this stop. You like magic shows? Your gonna love this. They're gonna saw you in half."

The zebra went wide eyed with fear and turned to me. "Please free me my lord." The voice sounded out in my head much like Adamos, but it was some how different and less whole, but I understood it all the same.

I was about to respond when a loud banging sounded off from the side of the trailer. The trucker inside yelled "What do you want Eddie?"

A voice outside shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are ya bangin for?"

The banging continued and the trucker, Maurice, walked outside.

A second later Annabeth materialized next to us. "This can't be legal. We need to rescue these animals."

"No kidding," Grover exclaimed, he then froze for a minute like he was listening to something. "The lion says these guys are smugglers."

"That's right." The zebra says in my head.

**"We need to save these animals Percy. I guess a zebra is close enough to a horse that it's still one of dad's subjects so that makes it our duty to save it."** Adamos says in my head. I was hoping that my head wouldn't become crowded. **"This truck alone is violating at least six different laws other than smuggling. We can't leave them to whatever fates await them."**

"_So, what do I just let them loose in wherever we are?" _

**"I'm guessing the goat will do something to the animals to protect them otherwise I'll do it myself."**

"_And no one is going to get mauled by a lion?" _

**"No."**

At that I grabbed Riptide and slashed at the locks of the zebra's cage. The lock breaks apart and the zebra bursts out of the cage and turns and bows to me. "Thank you, lord."

Grover then held up his hands and said something in bleats and brays.

The zebra then turned and burst out of the doors, knocking the truckers on their asses as they were about to open the doors. We watched as it ran down a street that was lined with flashing neon signs and casinos. We apparently just let a zebra lose in Vegas.

The two truckers finally got to their feet and ran after the zebra. At the same time a few police officers were chasing after them, yelling about permits and such. The civilians were just using their phones to record this.

I then cut the other two cages open and the lion and springbok came out of their cages. Grover once again did his goat ritual and the two animals bounded down the strip together.

We took this opportunity to haul ass away from the truck. We didn't need any more attention on us.

We quick walked as fast as we could away. As we did, we passed casinos, the MGM, the Vegas Eiffel tower and statue of liberty, and other attractions. I myself was eyeing the pirate ship mostly. We weren't really sure of where we were going, but we did agree that it needed to be out of this heat.

After a few minutes of walking we must have made a wrong turn because we were at a dead end. The only thing around was a single hotel and casino. The place had a large neon lotus above its doors and sweet-smelling air seemed to flow out of there. Then everything seemed to feel okay. Like all my cares were melting away. I looked over at Grover and Annabeth, and they both had smiles on their faces like me. It wouldn't hurt to stay awhile right?

As we were walking closer, I could swear that I was hearing a faint whisper in the back of my mind, but I just ignored it.

We walked over to the casino and the doorman that stood outside broke out into a bright smile. "You three look like you've been through a lot. Would you like to rest inside for a while?" The doorman asked. His voice sounded so sincere and with a simple glance I could tell this guy was mortal. We didn't even hesitate in nodding and walked right into the hotel. The whispers in the back of my mind grew a bit louder but I just pushed it away. It just felt nice for someone to actually worry about us after all of the monster run ins.

The inside of the hotel was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. Grover seemed to agree with me as the only thing that he could say was "Whoa."

The whole lobby was filled with different kinds of games from old school arcade games to VR suits with laser guns. A water slide was wrapped around a glass elevator that went up I don't know how may stories. A bridge crossed in the middle floor and people were even bungee jumping from it. There were snack bars and waiters everywhere. This place was a paradise.

"Hello!" A voice said from right next to us. We turned at standing there was a man in a nice suit with the hotel's logo on the left breast pocket. "Welcome to the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Here's your room key."

"Room key?" I asked. The whispers once again increase in volume, but I ignore them.

"Yes sir." He said jovially. "Room 4001. And don't worry bout the bill its already been taken care of. And if you need anything don't hesitate to contact the front desk. And here are your Lotus cards. You use them to pay for any meals, games, or rides in the hotel."

"What if they run out of money?" I ask.

The man just laughs like I just told him a joke and walks away, leaving us each with a room key and a plastic green card.

I turn to Grover and Annabeth and hold up the green cards. "You both thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask. Grover nods enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah." Annabeth says with a smile. We then turn and are about to take off when a searing pain hits my mind. I collapse to my knees and hold my head, trying to make it go away. My vision turns cloudy, before I collapse completely and slowly succumb to unconsciousness.

LINE BREAK

**"Sorry Perce but it had to be done. These guys really upped their brew."** I mentally say. Yeah that's right I'm in control of this part of the chapter. Don't expect this to be a regular thing, this just happens to be an extensive circumstance that requires my point of view. Anyways back to the story.

I slowly pull myself off the floor of the casino. People were still walking around me, not even bothering to look up from whatever has their attention.

I let out a brief sigh.** "They really upped the dosage for their drugs."** I think.

**"_All right Annabeth, Goat boy. I think we should get out of—and they're gone." _**I say as I look around the lobby area I was in, only to find that Percy's quest mate and the vermin to be gone. They didn't even stop when Percy collapsed and just pushed further into the hotel.

I look back to the front doors and begin to contemplate on ditching the two. On one hand it would make things so much easier to accomplish without the skeptical glances or the satyr screwing things up, but on the other hand Percy is probably going to throw a fit if I leave them. The kid is too loyal for his own good. I'm probably going to have to whittle that trait down a bit.

I pinch the bridge of Percy's nose and let out a frustrated sigh. **"I'm gonna have to go looking for those two."** I mentally curse.

I pick up the key card and the Lotus card off the floor and look at them**. "Maybe I could get something out of this place?"** I mentally think.

I make my way to the elevator and press the button for one of the top floors, I was alone in the elevator as it went up. Room 4001 was there, and it seemed to be the best place to start when looking for them. I watch the floor and other people shrink as I ascend to the top of the hotel. I draw on some of my powers and try to expand my senses, but it doesn't go very far.

**"_How do mortals deal with this?"_** I mutter. _**"Chaos, I feel so blind right now."** _The elevator ding, signaling that I was at my floor. I step out and make my way down the halls.

I trace my hand along the wall as I walk down the halls. I closed my eyes and draw on my domains to see for me. I feel the air currents flowing, the vibrations through out the building and even the moisture in the air to make a highly detailed map in my head. I then use my domain of life and make a sweep of the building and mark every living being on the map. I mentally groan at the amount of people in the building. I couldn't help but think that if I was in my regular body, I could easily find those two with any of those abilities but since I'm in a mortal vessel the effectiveness of them have been greatly reduced. I mean I can't even differentiate between different life forces unless I was within ten meters of someone. **"Maybe it will improve when Percy's body matures more or if it adjusts more."**

I stop my internal ranting and turn to a door that was to my right. The plate next to it read 4001. I inserted the room key and enter the room.

Already the room was messy. The beds were all disheveled, the snacks in the mini fridge were mostly eaten and someone had left the national geographic channel on the T.V. Their stuff was strewn across the room like they just threw it I didn't sense anyone else in the room. I mentally curse.

I place both backpacks that I was carrying onto the bed and start to empty the bag that Ares gave us into the infinibag. Which I really need to thank Hestia for.

Once I put everything in the infinibag (including the master bolt) I toss Ares's bag away. Only for it to fly right back at my face a moment later. _  
**"Of course, its enchanted."**_ I face palm. The thing was so heavily covered in mist and power from the bolt that I didn't notice the enchantment. I then stuffed that pack into the infinibag as well.

I then walk over to the window and look out over the strip. The mortals were starting to come out as the sun started to set.

My eyes narrowed. It wasn't supposed to be sunset for another hour or so. I begin to run through hundreds of possible scenarios in my head. I dismiss many of them, but one sends me into a slight panic.

I grab a pen and paper off one of the nightstand in the room and quickly draw a flawless and intricate magic circle in less than ten seconds. (Yeah I'm that good) I pour a bit of magical power into the spell and it begins to glow in an array of colors. A bunch of waves form in the air above the spell and shift with the colors. It takes a second before the waves settle in a certain way and remain a solid golden color.

**"_Shit!"_** I curse. I then pull on my magical abilities and expand my magic sense through out the hotel. I could feel it in the air around me and the amount of magic flowing in the walls themselves. It was a unique form of magic, but this effect seemed so weak compared to others I had felt. But it was without a doubt in my mind. The entire hotel was affected with time dilation magic. No doubt to slow the aging of those trapped inside and to make sure that they stay longer than they realize.

It was the only way to explain how my sense of time was a bit skewed even with a mortal body. I began running through scenarios in my head on what to do. I needed to find those other two and get out of here, but the hotel was so large, and the time dilation wouldn't work in my favor. Then a bit of inspiration hit me, and an idea was formed. I couldn't help but grin, this could solve my problems in one fell swoop, and maybe I could take a few things from the hotel.

**Line break**

Through out the hotel the employees of the Lotus hotel felt a chill go down their spines. They just shrugged it off and went back to work keeping the people in the hotel.

**Line break**

I walked out of the room with the infinibag on my back. I had taken the liberty of changing Percy's clothes with the ones I had found in the closet of the room, since his old clothes reeked of sweat and animals. Currently I was wearing dark blue jeans and a green v neck shirt. Over that was a black leather jacket that fit really well over Percy's body and a pair of dark combat boots that I though complemented the look but didn't restrain movement. I took the liberty of grabbing more clothes out of the closet that I thought would look good on Percy as well, I mean seriously the kid has little to any style. Just another thing I'm gonna have to help him with.

I walked through the hall and drew power to Percy's eyes. I blinked once and my view shifted. All through out the walls lines like the circuits were spread. Magic was being pumped throughout the hotel and I watched as it flowed back towards the lobby and gathered in a lower floor. No doubt a basement level.

I followed the magic down the hall and occasionally updated the map that I made in my head with my domains. After all, one of the most important rules in warfare is to know thy enemy and the more you know about your opponent the greater chance of success.

I walked over and was about to call the elevator up to my floor when my hand froze. The sound of rushing water fills my ears and I notice it out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head and see it. The entrance to the water slide that spirals around the elevator was empty.

**"Come on you don't have time for games. You're on a schedule."** I mentally berate myself and motion to push the button for the elevator, only to find myself frozen once again. **"But then again it could take some time for the elevator to get to me."** I eye the water slide.** "No! Get a grip man! Focus!"** I slap both of my cheeks and press the button for the elevator.

~a few minutes later~

**"_WAAAAAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOO!" _**I cheer as I make it to the bottom of the forty-story water slide and splash into the exit pool. I walk out, the water offering no resistance to Percy's body and the clothes remaining dry through the entire experience.

I walk out and stand in the center of the lobby. My eyes still watching the magic flow from some basement level beneath the hotel and being closer to it I see that the amount of magic is much greater than I had though it was. **"What ever is down there releasing a lot of power."**

I close my eyes and once look at the map I had made and plot a way to the source. If I could make my way to the power source, I could most likely disable the time dilation and not risk running the clock down finding those two idiots.

Drawing on my domain of night I cloak myself in darkness. While its not able to turn me invisible it does make me much harder to notice especially, now I just have to remain out of close direct line of sights from the employees.

It doesn't even take me a minute to make my way to an employee's only door. It was locked but that wasn't much of a problem as it was a regular mortal lock, and a simple rune was more than enough to get me inside.

The hallway inside was pure white from the walls to the floor and ceiling. Simple metal doors lined the walls and their purplish pink color was a stark contrast that definitely made the color pop aesthetically. I made my way down the hallway and eyed the simple plates that were next to the doors like room indicators in a hospital. The rooms were labeled: Laundry, Janitorial supplies, Wi-Fi, potion brewing, and it just got weirder with each passing door.

The hall led to an intersection that went either left or right. I checked my map and felt for any forms of life. In the left hall I could feel around twelve life signs spread out in various rooms with two standing near the door to go lower. The right hallway had life signs as well but just went to a dead end.

I let out a small sigh. It seemed to much like wishful thinking to go without any confrontation, but nothing ever was that easy**. "It shouldn't be to hard to get past two people."** I contemplated. **"The real problem is getting past them quietly."** I mentally run through hundreds of scenarios and finally decide on one and a couple of contingency plans, I mean not all plans go smoothly so its best to be prepared.

I retrace my steps until I'm near the doors I came through, and I'm standing in front of the laundry room. I use another rune and unlock the door and peek inside. Like I thought, there was no one inside the laundry area, but many of the machines were running. Carts of clothes were everywhere and filled to the brim with blankets, towels, and clothes of various kinds.

Along a wall was a row of sinks. I walked over to the nearest one and turned it on, letting the water run. I drew on my domains of the sea and the water snaked towards me and disappeared up my sleeve and out of view. I then exited the room and made my way back to the intersection. I peeked around and could see two guys standing by the stairway entrance chatting.

**"Okay,"** I mentally psyche myself up. **"time to do your best satyr impression."** I hunch over and try to make my posture as small as possible. I even fake trembling as an added effect. Using short choppy steps, I walk from out of my cover and make my way down the hall. I intentionally drag my feet so that the shoes would squeak on the floor. It was enough to draw the attention of the two men.

"Hey kiddo, I don't think that your supposed to be back here." One of them said, he was bald. "Yeah this place is off limits to guests." Said the other man, he had a bushy beard and a full head of hair.

**"_I-I lost s-something important."_** I mad my voice quiver to sound unthreatening. **_"One of t-the employees said they w-would help m-me find it, but t-they had to leave, and I d-don't know the way back."_**

"Don't you worry kiddo," The bald man said. "I can take you back." He left his associate and made his way over to me. He was standing directly in front of me, providing a lack of visual between myself and the bearded man.

"All right lets ge—" Was all he managed to get out before I thrust my hand and willed the water in my sleeve to shoot out and freeze, piercing his heart. He looked down in shock before collapsing. I moved to the side and feigned fear as he almost fell on me.

"John!" The bearded man said in worry as he rushed to his coworker's aid. He picked 'John' up and frantically looked him over. He didn't even notice that I was now behind him, nor the frozen dagger passing through his ribs and into his heart.

He collapsed on his friends body, both of their bodies no longer holding the spark of life that I could see before. It was a necessary action. War was on the horizon for Olympus and these people were as close to monsters that a human could get without succumbing. I dug around in their clothes for anything useful. The bearded guy had an important looking electronic key and a Beretta m9 with an extra mag, and I found an identical fire arm and mag in the bald guys clothes.

I tuck the mags into my waist band and carefully carve an enchantment onto the gun with the water. The enchantment was a magical silencer so that it wouldn't give me away if I fired. Once I was done I checked the bullet count in the mag and inspect the gun. It was a well-maintained weapon but the aim was of by a centimeter to the left. I would have to compensate.

I swipe the key across the key pad and a beep sounds out and the door unlocks. I step through but stop. I turn and look at the two bodies piled onto the floor. **"Can't leave that."** I think and cast a spell. The two bodies ignite in a furious flame before there is nothing left but a small pill of ash.

Now that that was down I make my way down the stairs going past the next two basement floors. They were of no importance to me. From the vibrations in the earth they seemed to be nothing more than a bunch of living quarters and associated rooms, all of which were filled with life signs. The real objective was the bottom basement floor. There two three massive rooms, and only one was the source of the magical power. And I'm not gonna lie, I was interested in what those other two rooms had.

I entered the bottom floor and walked into a square white room. On each wall was a massive vault door.

**"_One foot of steel plating, a dual electronic and manual locking system, twenty-four bolt locks." _**I mutter as I eye the vaults. **_"A standard Maratelli class III vault. Standard break in time is two hours, not counting all of these enchantments and wards they've placed." _**I let out a sigh. _**"Don't have time for this. Ene Mene Mini Mo."** _

I walk over to one of the vaults in the room. It wasn't the one where all the magic was but I could get to that in a second. I press my hand to the vault door. I pull on my domain of destruction. Glowing orange cracks spread from my hand and spread through the door like an infection. The vault door groans and creaks before completely falling apart. A sharp burning pain flows up Percy's arm.

**"_Gah!" _**I hiss in pain. I look at the hand to see that the skin has taken a furious red color and the veins in his arm having a slight golden glow. Steam was rolling of the skin. It only takes a second before I summon white flames and the injury heals, the skin going back to the tan shade.

**"Going to have to lock that ability from Percy, don't want him to accidentally lose an arm or something."** I think. This power was far to dangerous for both himself and those around him.

I shake Percy's hand as if to shake the pain off, and step over the pieces of scrap metal that were littered over the floor. I look inside and my breath hitched. I felt like a kid in a candy store looking inside.

It was a massive weapons vault. There were all kinds of weapons: firearms, swords, spears, grenades, rocket launchers, daggers, bows, and many others lined the walls and floors like a Macy's clothing store. If anyone were to have seen me they would have sworn they saw me being in four different spaces at the same time.

**"**_**EEEEEEEEEEE!"** _I squealed like a school girl as I looked at each weapon. Now don't give me that weird look, I'm the god of battle and weapons skills, and I greatly appreciate the artistic work that comes with these things.

**"_A bastard sword, a compound bow, a Scar-H with a stub grip and reflex sight, a Mossberg Maverick pump action shotgun," _**I list off with glee and start shoving the weapons into the infinibag with reckless abandon. I even shoved some grenades boxes in there. As I was shoving a set of celestial bronze swords into the bag something catches my eye.

It was beautiful, it was elegant, it was the most beautiful hand cannon I had ever seen. It was a six-count revolver with an extended barrel and a built-in laser point under the barrel. The metal was a pitch black with highlighted lines of gold as well as gold plating as accents that ran like circuitry across the massive barrel.

I delicately hold the work of art in my hands. It was a work of art that was worthy of Hephaestus himself. It even came with celestial bronze bullets and regular mortal ammunition.

**"_I'm keeping this. I don't give a shit what anyone says I'm taking this." _**I say with a massive grin as I load mortal rounds into the cylinder and give it a spin. As I stand, I fell vibrations resonating from above me. I close my eyes and search the building to see what happening. My view expands and I see that there are a massive amount of life signs gathering on the second basement floor.

**"Must have tripped the silent alarm."** I smirk as I walk out of the vault. **"Good. Now I don't need to look for some one important. But I can't have them coming in just yet."** I muse. A massive multilayered spell circle appears over the exit door to the stairway. A deadlock spell that should keep out the lotus eaters for as long as I need.

Not wanting to waste any more time I walk over to the center vault. The amount of magic pouring out from there is massive, almost tangible even.

**"_All right Cathy, let's see what's behind door number two."_** Just like the vault before I place my hand on the vault and it falls to pieces. I heal the injury and walk into the vault.

What I saw was not exactly what I was expecting. The room was all white like the room outside, scrawled all on the floor was a massive spell circle that nearly reached the edges of the room. At the center of the spell circle was a massive cage tied to the walls with chains.

The magic power flowing out of the cage and the magic circle was something else entirely. It felt warm, like a dying fire that was raging until its very end. I gaze at the magic circle and can only look in embarrassment. **"By the gods this circle is atrocious. There are so many unneeded elements and useless parts. You don't even need this entire section here. What third rate mage deemed this as workable."**

"Squawk!"

I blink at the sudden noise and look up. Sitting at the top of the cage on a hanging bar was a large majestic red bird. Its colors a bright red, and a golden plumage sprouted from its head and made up the tail feathers. The bird was at least three feet tall, its wingspan was seven feet. In the light the feathers glistened like a rainbow. **"Is that… a phoenix?"**

"Squawk!"

**"_What the Hades did you call me?" _**

"Squawk!"

**"_You take that back before I roast you and eat you with barbecue sauce!"_**

"Cacaw!"

I narrow my eyes at the bastard bird. I take a good look at it, half wondering how to best cook the bird in front of me and half figuring it out. Then it hit me.

**"_You're not supposed to be here." _**I mutter. The bird just tilts its head to the side to show confusion. I feel frustration boil inside me. **_"You're not supposed to be here." _**I growl at the bird. My godly power surfaces and Percy's eyes pulse with power. The phoenix shrinks itself under my gaze as I stare at it.

I pull out Riptide and uncap the sword. With a quick succession of slashes at the cage in barely a second, I recap the sword and the bars of the cage clatter to the ground, a large hole now presents in the steel.

**"_You get down here NOW!" _**I growl out. The bird hesitates but a flux of my own power is enough to convince it that I wasn't going to take no for an answer.

The phoenix shifts on its feet as I let my power overwhelm its own. Any mortal, demigod, or even a weaker minor god (cough, Triton, cough) would feel suffocated in my presence, even as limited as Percy's mortal body can allow.

**"_What are you doing here?" _**I ask in a icily.

"C-Caw."

**"_Bull shit. Now tell me the truth."_**

"Squawk!" The phoenix flaps its wings in a manor to appease me.

**"**_**I can tell you're here illegally. There's no gate mark on you meaning you came here illegally."** _

The phoenix turns to look away at the accusation.

**"_This is a violation of the accords. It was agreed that the Greco/Roman pantheon would be sole physical presence on Earth."_**

"Coo."

**"**_**I don't care if you wanted to come here for a stupid—what the Hades did you call it?"** _

"Skraw caw."

I let out a sigh. **_"Huh, yes. Your 'mortal cultural food tour' is not a valid excuse for you to illegally cross over to the mortal realm. Now tell me where you're from, my best guess is from the Japanese pantheon."_**

"Squawk." The bird nods its head at the question.

**"_Guess I can send you over to Susan. He'll know what to do with you." _**I mutter, a tone of irritation present. **_"Anyways what's your name?"_**

"Caw. Squawk."

**"_Toriyama?"_**

"Caw."

**"**_**I mean I'm not apposed to seeing your dragon."** _

"Squawk."

**"_Wait he can do what with a ball! Wait, don't try to distract me feather head!" _**I growl. A loud banging echoes through the room. The phoenix and I both look out of the vault and see the exit door shaking under the force on the opposite side._** "I guess they finally got together."** _I mused. I turned to the phoenix. **_"I can get you back to the heavenly realm, but you have to swear not to return unless through proper channels."_**

"Squawk squawk!"

**"_I don't care if its expensive. You either come with me and face charges from the Shinto, OR I can leave you here with the Lotus eaters, where you can spend the rest of your demi immortal existence as a battery. So, what will it be?" _**I say with a sickly-sweet tone and smile on my face.

Toriyama looks at the pounding on the door and then back to me. It then bows its head in a defeated way.

**"_Oh, and I'm taking these as payment." _**I say as I pluck out a bunch of feathers of his wings. Toriyama gives in indignant squawk and looks at his wings in a sorrowful way. **_"Hey this is compensation." _**I say and I remove the band on Percy's arm. It reverts to its true form and I'm holding my spear. I feel the levels of power rise and feel it coursing through my body, the familiar mass of power made me feel comfortable inside. I tap the butt of the spear onto the floor and the already existing magic circle glows and rearranges itself until a far more intricate pattern is imprinted beneath our feet. I speak in an ancient language, my voice becoming multilayered like multiple people all speaking different things at the same time. The chant barely lasts twenty seconds before the spell circle glows brightly and Toriyama begins to fade away.

**"**_**The destination is the Japanese godly realm's transfer gate bureau. I've already sent them a message about what's happened. They should give you an easier time considering you were stupid enough to get captured."** _I say.** _"And I don't want to see you on Earth any time soon got it."_**

Toriyama nods in understanding and finally fades away into light. Once he is gone the magic circle also fades into nonexistence, a feature that I put into the spell so that no one could use it to go to the Japanese pantheon. The banging on the door get louder and the locking spell on the door begins to flare slightly.

**"_Well better get this over with." _**I say and turn my way to the exit. I snap my fingers and a few simple yet powerful spells activate: A mid-tier shielding spell, an illusion spell to mask Percy's face, and an array spell for offense. I pull the majestic hand cannon out from the waist line of my pants and readjust the infinibag on my back. I scan the magic around me just to make sure that I disabled the time dilation and seeing that I did do it I set up for the confrontation.

I snap my fingers and the locking spell vanishes. Immediately the door is bashed off of its hinges and a large group dressed in full tactical swat gear floods into the room. Two mages even stand in the back near the door, their arms glowing with a dark blue magical aura. The room remains completely silent as all of their weapons were trained on me.

**"_This seems like over ki—"_**

BANG!

A shot fires off, interrupting what I was saying. The bullet doesn't even reach me as it bounces off the barrier I set up. It wasn't the strongest barrier I could make but I doubted that they would use explosive weaponry in such an enclosed place.

**"_That was rude." _**I mutter and activate my attack array and a simple magic bolt fires like an arrow from a bow and pierces through the bullet proof vest, killing the man. A simple yet effective lower end mid class spell that would never work on a god, demigods could probably survive a direct hit so long as it isn't a vital area, but against mortals and mortal made body armor, they might as well have fought in a t-shirt.

The other men look stunned at their fallen comrade. One of the mages managed to regain their senses just enough that he ordered them to fire at will. The bullets pelted the barrier but did nothing. The magic bolts however were slowly whittling away at the barrier, not that I was worried as I put a second barrier layer beneath the first, the mages were clearly limiting themselves. **"Idiots,"** I think. **"So, focused on offense. If they split defense and attack, they could eliminate the risk of friendly fire from higher class spells."** I shake my head at their idiocy.

I activate the spell array and one by one the assault team is wiped away. They scream bloody murder only to be silenced as another bolt strikes a vital area killing them instantly. I fire the hand cannon every now and then and she works like a dream as the bullets pack enough of a punch to blast them off their feet. The entire ordeal barely lasts ten seconds until only one of the mages remains. His face is filled with fear as he trembles on the floor, his robes stained red with the blood of his associates, tears streaking down his face.

I raise my hand and the mage immediately tries to crawl out the only exit, but multiple ethereal chains appear out of a low-class magic circle and bind and drag him back to me. He cries out in terror as he desperately tries to crawl away from me.

I bring him straight up to my face, his own stained with tears as he looks into my eyes.

"P-Please d-don't kill me." He begs.

**"_Don't worry." _**I say, Percy's voice is hollow and distorted as it further terrifies the crying man in front of me.** _"I need you alive so that you can get whoever's in charge of this place. But don't be gone to long or else I'll hunt you down like a wild dog." _**I say. The illusion masking Percy's face shifts so that a sharp toothed grin appears on the false mask.

I release him and with a quick boot to the ass he's already taking off out of the room. I stand there for a moment and look around at the piles of bodies and blood staining the walls and floor.

**"Well this won't do."** I think and I incinerate their bodies, leaving nothing behind like those first two men on the ground floor. I leave the blood on the walls as a form of psychological warfare.

I count seven minutes and sixteen seconds until another swat group, although smaller in number, storms in with heavier weapons and takes aim at me. Then two people walk in, one a man in an immaculate suit that seemed tailor fitted to his body, and the other was a dark-haired woman with a similar business attire and a pencil skirt. They carried themselves with an air of pride and the man had an amused smile on his face, as if he were in complete control of the situation. It honestly peeved me to no end, as I've seen hundreds of people like that who simply thought that their positions would protect them. Their body language just screamed that they weren't even taking me seriously.

I resisted the urge to scoff at their behavior and just remained in a passive stance, the mask covering Percy's face not revealing anything.

"Hello there young man, how are you today." The finely dressed man asks with what had to be the smarmiest sincere smile on his face. I stay completely silent as he continues to stare. I wasn't going to play whatever word game he was wanting.

The man coughs into his hand before speaking again. "Well my name is Thomas Marlowe and I am the manager of this fine hotel and casino."

I barley pay him any attention and my gaze locks onto his associate. The dark haired woman's eyes meet mine for only a brief moment before she looks away and keeps an impassive face.** "A weakness. She's probably still new to her position or not as used to confrontation in the hotel. I can work with this."** I contemplate.

The manager Thomas seems to notice my gaze on the woman and tries to start up another conversation. "Ah how rude of me, this is my assistant manager Jenny. She and I truly wish to settle this…error that has occurred. If there was anything that you didn't find enjoyable in the hotel you merely needed to contact the front desk. I say we head there now, and you can play a few games while we sort things out."

I pay him no mind as I shove past him and stare directly at the assistant manager. Her eyes looking anywhere but my own. I feel the heavily armed soldiers reposition around the room, their weapons still trained on me. There was a total of eight set up in a semicircle and positioned with a clear line of site at me.

**"_I have a few demands that you are going to follow to the letter and I expect them to be the hotels top priority Miss manager." _**I say, my voice still distorted. Jenny though looked like she was about to break down into a panic but was barely holding on.

From behind me Thomas speaks up. "Uh sir I believe that you might be confused. I am the manager of the hotel." He chuckles. "I think that you might be tired so I think you should return to you room and we can continue this talk another time." He says with a fake concerned underlying tone in his cheery voice. He tries to put his hand on my shoulder to steer me away, but I grab his hand by the wrist.

All around me I hear safeties being released. I don't even bother paying attention to them as I take my first glance at Thomas. The smile still adorned his face despite the position he was in. He tries to pull his hand away, but I keep it rapped in a vice grip. I then pull on my powers before releasing his hand all together.

"That's quite a grip you have there sir." Thomas comments as he rubs his hand. It wasn't till he looked down that he saw the glowing orange handprint that was pulsing on his arm. He tries to wipe it off to no avail, and even rolls up his coat sleeve, but it was imbedded into his skin. A spark of fear could be seen in his eyes.

Then it begins. Cracks begin to crawl up his arm at a terrifying pace. Thomas clutches his arm and screams in agony as it spreads. His body then gives, and he drops to his knees as he continues to scream. Everyone in the room watches with a sickening fascination at the sight before them, unable to take their eyes away as Thomas convulses and spasms in pain. His skin blackening at the edges of the cracks before flaking away like ash. I don't even bother to watch it happen as it was no longer worth my attention.

One minute. The entire process only lasted one minute, but to the nine other people in the room it seemed like it lasted for hours before Thomas was reduced to nothing but ash and the sounds of his screams die out.

They were all speechless and unmoving until one of the armored soldiers, one wearing a star badge on his bullet proof vest symbolizing he was the leader, snapped out of his stupor.

"Open fi—" was all he said before an earthen spike pierced his stomach, along with his men.

Jenny frantically looks around at the mass of bodies impaled to the ceiling. The blood draining from their bodies staining the spires red.

**"_So, Miss manager," _**I say, making her jump at the sound of my voice. **_"I think that it would be best if you cooperate."_ **I then level the hand cannon directly at her head, so she's staring down the barrel of a gun an inch from her face.

"O-Of course s-sir." Her voice trembles and her knees shake as she struggles to stand. Her entire posture and demeanor collapsing.

**"**_**First you are going to call in transportation for me and two others. And second, the people in room 4001, you are going to find them and bring them to me."** _She vigorously nods.

I walk past her as she stands frozen in the same spot. _"**I expect this to be done in fifteen minutes, I'll be waiting in the lobby." **_I say over my shoulder. **_"And if I have to wait longer…" _**I let the threat hang in the air as I leave.

**LINE BREAK**

It has been thirteen minutes since I threatened the newly appointed manager of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The apparent threat of immediate death was a massive motivator as I watched the Lotus eaters running throughout the hotel looking for Annabeth and the goat. At around the fourteen-and-a-half-minute mark was when Jenny and two buff looking guys walked up to where I was sitting in the lobby. Annabeth and the furball were slung over their shoulders like sacks of potatoes.

"T-They w-were quite difficult t-to remove t-them from the games." She stutters out, still refusing to meet my eyes. "W-We had t-to incap-paciatate them. I'm so sorry we had to!" She rushes out.

**"_Its fine," _**I wave her off. **_"Is the transportation ready?"_**

"Uh, y-yes sir." She says. "We have a limo outside waiting to take you where you need to go."

I nod in acknowledgment.** _"Load them into the back and tell the driver were heading to L.A."_**

Jenny signals for the two men to go ahead, and they both leave with Annabeth and the goat over their shoulders.

"I-Is there a-anything else I c-can do for you." She says with a forced smile.

I rub my chin and think_. **"Give me some of those Lotus cash cards and that guitar in the window. After that I'll leave."**_

"O-Of course sir." She says as she pulls out a small stack of silver cards and hands them to me. She then calls an employee over and they bring the guitar. With the cash cards, the guitar, phoenix feathers, and the arsenal to out fit a small army I was feeling real good about everything as I walked out of the hotel and into the blazing hot Vegas strip.

I slide into the limo; Annabeth and the satyr were passed out on the lengthy seats. I myself slide over to the window that connected to the driver. I roll down the window.

"Are you ready to go sir?" The driver asks.

**"**_**Yeah. I think we should set off now."** _I say as I drop the illusion mask as I was sitting with my back to the driver.**_ "Oh and would you mind telling me something?" _**I ask as I finger the strings on my new guitar.

"What would you like to know?" He asks.

**"_How long were we in there?"_**

"Four days sir." The driver simply said as we pulled onto the road.

I mentally curse. We were stuck in there for longer than I thought. At least we still had two days to complete the quest so it made me feel better, and with the nonstop limo ride we would be in L.A. a few hours. I close the window to the driver and start plucking the guitar strings into the tune of Yesterday by the Beatles.

Just two days and there was still so much to do.

**A/N: Hey yall. This is captain Momentei here. Ok so I know that this is a seriously long chapter. I wanted to make up for the fact that I missed two weeks of writing because I was sick and drifting in and out of consciousness far to often to even attempt at writing a sentence. Any ways onto the story. I wanted to do two chapters but just made it into one-chapter total. One in Percy's P.O.V and the other in Adamos's P.O.V. I think the Adamos chapter show just how different he is from Percy and how he handles things. The willingness to use such extreme measures versus heroic naivety. I do hope that you enjoy the chapter and remember to leave a review on anything I can work on. I want to be a better writer for you insatiably sexy beasts. Any ways thanks for reading and your support.**

**Momentei out.**


	16. Chapter 15:Flattery Gets You Everywhere

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

**_Adamos talking_**

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine**

**Chapter 15**

**Flattery Gets You Every Where**

Darkness was all around me. I didn't really remember how I got here. The last thing that I did remember was going into someplace. There was laughter, bright lights, and Grover and Annabeth were smiling at me. It felt like I was in a dream, but then all I remembered was pain and then blacking out. I was seriously wishing that Adamos wasn't going to hold it over my head for passing out.

I looked around to see where I was. I knew I was probably in my head, but the tropical island was nowhere to be seen. I couldn't hear the gentle waves or feel the warmth from the fake sun.

"Hello?" I shout out, but my voice was more on the level of a whisper than anything else. "Adamos? Are you there?"

In the midst of the darkness the sound of a piano echoed all around me. It was a beautiful yet simple melody that was quite alluring. I began walking in a random direction and the melody only became louder.

A faint light was in the distance. I walked closer and a figure came into view. The figure became clearer, and it looked like a man in a suit sitting at a piano.

**"**_**Ah Percy, I see you're finally here."** _

"Adamos?"

**"_In the mental flesh." _**Adamos says with a cheeky smile.

"So we're in…"

**"_In your head? Yes, yes we are." _**He cuts me off.

"Where's the island? Why are we here? What happened to me? What are…" I start spouting out questions.

**"_Whoa, whoa. Hold it Perce. One question at a time." _**Adamos said in a calming voice, he still held a smile on his face and never once stopped playing the piano.

**"_The island is still here, I've just put it away to do this little bit. I brought you here to fill you in on what's happening because I knocked you out. And as for this," _**Adamos nods at the piano he was playing. _**"I was feeling a bit classy and decided that I wanted to play piano in a super classy way. Because there's not much classier than a man in a fine suit talking to you while playing a piano."** _

I didn't really know what to make of this. By now I should be used to his weird ways, but I don't think that I ever will. "Has anyone ever told you that you seem to have way too much time on your hands?" I said.

He lets out a small laugh as he still plays the piano._** "When you're living inside a twelve-year old's subconscious for a few months you can judge. Planning lessons for you and making sure that you don't kill yourself is like seventy percent of my day."** _

"Okaaay," I draw the word out. "So what exactly happened? After you knocked me out?"

**"**_**Okay so tell me, what do you know of the Odyssey?"** _

"What does that have to do with anything?" I ask.

**"_Just answer the question." _**Adamos says with an eye roll.

I rattle my brain trying to remember all that I can. "It was… a very long boat trip?"

**"**_**Are you asking me or telling me?"** _Adamos said with a glint of mirth in his eyes.

I had to take a deep breath not groan in irritation. "I'm telling you." Adamos then gave me a go on motion with his head. "The Odyssey was a long book about Odysseus sailing back to his home. He had to go against a bunch of monsters and Poseidon didn't like him." I summarized.

**"_Well I guess that's one way to put it. Well you and your little entourage managed to get capture by one of those monsters from the Odyssey."_**

A wave of panic washed over me, and my eyes widened. I was about to panic but Adamos must have seen the expression on my face because he started talking before me. _**"You don't need to worry I got you all out of there safely. It was just the Lotus eaters, not really a huge threat for me as they are basically just slow aging mortals."** _Than a huge grin adorned his face. **_"I even got a bunch of stuff from them and I didn't have to pay for it as a bonus."_**

"What do you mean you got stuff?" I asked.

**"_Oh, I got lots of things," _**The tempo on the piano picked up as he grew more excited.** _"I got enough fire arms to outfit a small army, celestial bronze swords, spears, knives, shields, some grenades, some jeep stuff, a sick ass revolver that's a hand cannon, some ingredients from a magical beast, a very nice guitar as well as a limo to take us to Santa Monica."_**

I was a bit dumbstruck as he started spouting off his list. "And, um, how did you convince them to give you all this stuff?"

**"_I threatened to kill the rest of them if they didn't comply." _**He gave a noncommitted shrug.

"You killed people!" I shouted. "Why would you do that!" I began pacing back in forth as Adamos was still playing the stupid piano.

**"_Geez, you make it sound like I did something wrong." _**He mutters but it was enough for me to still hear him.

"You can't just kill and threaten people!" I shout at him. Adamos just gives me a bland look that basically says, 'why not'. "Because it's wrong. Chiron even said that we weren't supposed to fight with mortals."

**"_Technically he said unless it's necessary. I found it necessary. Besides the Lotus eaters are far from regular mortals. They've been extending their own life spans by feeding off of other mortals for millennia. Like vampires, just not as fun to kill."_**

"Wait, vampires are real?" Curse my ADHD.

**"_WERE real. Hunted down the last of them myself in the late 19__th_**_** century. They are now and forever extinct. Although there are quite few monsters that resemble them."** _He mutters that last part.

"Doesn't matter you can't just do that. Its wrong."

**"_You're not going to let this go, are you?"_** He asks with a raised brow.

I steel myself. I couldn't let him see that I was weak or else he would never listen. "No," I say with as much conviction in my voice that I can muster.

A few moments pass and the only sound in the void is the sound of the piano as the melody slows. Then all together he stops playing.** _"All right. If that's how you want to do things." _**Adamos then stands up and walks over to me until he's directly in front of me. He towers over me. Even wearing a full three-piece suit, I can see the toned outlines of muscle under the fabric, making him look all the more imposing. His tri-colored eyes seemed to bore into my very soul as if digging out every weakness and secret I had. It took everything I had not to look away. _**"This is your quest Percy. If that's how you want to do it than that's fine."**_ Adamos said with a shrug.

I deflate a bit. That was not what I was expecting him to say. I was expecting him to tell me to man up or say something wise. "I—thank you Adamos." I say. A small smile spreads across his face. "I appreciate why you did it but from now on we can't threaten or kill people for things." I say pointedly.

**"**_**Fine, but only on one condition."** _

"And what would that be?" I say with a raised brow.

**"_We are not returning the stuff I stole from them."_**

I let out a soft chuckle. "I think that's agreeable." I say, and not admitting that a small part of me wanted to see all of the stuff he took.

**"_Alright."_** Adamos claps his hands with a broad smile and the dark void explodes with light and color. I had to shield my eyes as it was like a flashbang had gone off. The sound of waves crashing against the shore filled my ears. I blink a few times and look around. The black void had disappeared, and the island returned.

**"_Ok now that that's out of the way."_ **Adamos said cheerfully, as if it never happened. **_"Its time for you to wake up. I'll let you take care of explaining to the blonde and the goat."_**

"Wait! Wouldn't it be better if you explained it to them?" I exclaim.

**"_Probably, but this is your quest, so you'll have to deal with it. Also you have two days till the solstice. Bye!"_**

"How is that fai—" I try to shout but I was cut off as Adamos snapped his fingers and I passed out.

LINEBREAK

"Aahh!" I jolt awake. I immediately look around to see where I am. I really was inside a limo. Smooth black leather seats lined the walls of the car. The windows were tinted, and the roof was lined with dim lights that barely illuminated the interior of the car yet it was enough for a normal person to see. In the middle of the car on the left side was a minifridge along with an assortment of glasses. At the end of the limo, Annabeth and Grover were slumped over. Both were unconscious, with Grover face planting into the window and Annabeth curled into the corner.

"_You're a real ass you know that?" _I mentally say, but I got no response from Adamos.

A groan draws my attention to the opposite end of the limo. Slowly both Annabeth and Grover wake from their sleep and blink away the wariness from their eyes.

"W-Where are we?" Grover asks as he peels his face off of the window.

"Hey guys." I say awkwardly. Their eyes drift to me and then look around a bit before settling on me once again.

"Alright spill where are we?" Annabeth said with a glare.

"In a limo." I said sheepishly. This however wasn't the answer that she was looking for as her glare only worsened. "We were stuck in the lair of the Lotus Eaters." I said.

"What!" They both shouted at once and being in the confined space didn't help as I almost winced at how loud they were.

"Yeah like I said, we were trapped by the Lotus Eaters but got out." I said.

"How did we get out?" Grover asked as he shifted around to make himself more comfortable.

"I—um, I don't…really…know?" I said as their eyes bore into me by the second. I didn't really have enough time to actually think of a lie to tell them.

"What do you mean you don't know. How could you know we were trapped but not know how we got out and into this limo?" Annabeth once again began firing questions.

"What I mean is," I start off, trying to find a lie that would work. "That I wasn't the one to get us out." I said trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"Then who did?" Grover asked.

"Uhh… I don't know. I can't really remember his face. But the lotus eater were scared of him." I say. Annabeth had a far away look in her eyes as her brain went a thousand miles a minute.

"You can't remember him, and they took us out of the lair of the Lotus Eaters," She began to spout of. "We might have been helped by a god." She said. Inwardly I was letting out a sigh of relief that she came to that conclusion on her own. "Yes, if the quest for the bolt is so important than one of the gods would want it to succeed and would help us out. What did he look like? What hair color did he have? How did it feel being near him? How—"

"Hold it, hold it." I wave my arms to cut her off. Annabeth stopped talking and gave me an expectant look. "I don't remember what he looked like. Just that he wore a suit," I said pulling from Adamos's attire in my mind. "other than that, I can't really remember his face."

Both of them were looking at me to see if I was lying and after a few moments they both seemed satisfied with my answer.

"Well gods aren't supposed to interfere with quests so it makes sense that they would hide themselves." Grover said, to which Annabeth slowly nodded in agreement. After that we just sat in silence. Annabeth, with her curiosity now sated, no longer wanted to talk to me. Grover was looking back and forth between us as if he was choosing sides. I knew that she wouldn't be the one to apologize first so it was up to me to start.

"Annabeth." She didn't even look at me. I let out a sigh and rub the back of my head. "Annabeth, I'm sorry." The only indication that she heard me was a slight glance that I was barely able to pick up. "This quest is supposed to involve all of us and I've been keeping you and Grover out of it. So, I'm sorry." I say in my most sincere voice.

Annabeth just continues to look away from, either thinking things over or just outright ignoring me, I couldn't tell without seeing her face. Grover however took it upon himself to nudge Annabeth with his elbow. Her head snapped to him and gave him a glare, but I could tell that she wasn't putting her all into the expression. The two began conversing in whispers that I couldn't really hear due to being on opposite ends of the limo, well Grover was whispering but Annabeth's seemed to have a harsher tone.

It was fifteen minutes later when they stopped their discussion. Annabeth still looked a bit angry, but it had lessened by a large margin, Grover on the other hand looked like he was on the verge of having a migraine but seemed content.

"I guess…" Annabeth started off, her eyes didn't meet mine as she spoke. "we both said some things that we shouldn't have." She said. "I… accept your apology."

I let out a small breath and a small smile graced my face. It wasn't exactly the kind of apology that I wanted but it meant that we on the track to be friends again, though I think that we still might need some work.

"So now that we're all good," Grover says suddenly after a few moments of silence. "where are we going and what's going on?"

"We are actually on our way to Santa Monica first so that I can meet my dad and then we are going to the underworld." I explained.

"Do you even know where the underworld is?" Annabeth asked, not sounding mean but rather curious now.

"Yeah actually," I said as I dug into the backpack and reached in until I found what I needed. I pulled out a piece of paper and had to shuffle over to the two and hand it over. "This is something I took when I was scavenging around Medusa's lair. Look at the delivery address." I pointed out on the paper.

"DOA studios in Los Angeles." Grover read out.

"And you didn't think to tell us this?" Annabeth said.

I shrugged in my hunched over position from standing in the limo. "We don't have a map of L.A. and no one to ask so I didn't think it was important yet." I said. After a moment Annabeth nodded at my logic.

After that the ride was mostly spent in silence. The three of us dug into the small snack bar and fridge that was built into the limo. I was eating bags of crackers and drinking a coke, Annabeth was munching on some cookies while Grover was going through his third bag of potato chips.

It was quiet for hours as we sat and ate the food, while watching the mass of desert pass by at a blinding speed. The limo never slowed until we came to Los Angeles and by then we arrived at the Santa Monica Pier as the sun was setting.

The three of us got out of the limo and a few people were pointing at us and whispering, probably thinking that we were the kids of a celebrity or something. I barely even closed the door before the limo sped off down the road, the screech of the tires could still be heard even after it rounded a corner and was lost from our sights.

"Well that was rude." Grover said.

"Yeah. I didn't even get to thank him." I added.

"No point thinking about it now." Annabeth interjected. "We can't keep Lord Poseidon waiting." She then walked off, heading to a nearby entrance to the beach. Now that I had a good look at my surroundings, I can say that this is nothing like the movies portray. The place smelled of sunbaked seaweed and homeless people were sleeping on the dunes, but it wasn't all bad as I did see the carnival rides lining the pier and the beach did have large groups of surfers so some people must enjoy this.

Grover, Annabeth, and I walked down to the surf. In front of us the sun was setting, turning the ocean a golden shade, while leaving the sky a beautiful purplish blue. All of this was at my father's command and it covered most of the planet. My father is important enough to control all of this and my brother controls the rest of the planet and more.

"_I'm related to some of the most powerful beings in the world." _Once more I felt a knot stir in my gut at the overwhelming thought. Then I felt the tension flow out of my body. I knew it was Adamos easing my nerves because it felt like someone was reassuring pat on the shoulder. Then a gentle push was all I felt, and I began walking into the tides.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked. "What are you doing?"

I wasn't really listening to her as I continued to walk till the water reached my chest.

"Percy! Get back here we nee—" Was all I heard her call out before I fully submerged under the water.

I felt power flood my body, far more than I had felt in the lake at camp or in the creek. I felt as if I could go another round with Echidna and the Chimera, but I knew that was a stupid idea, but damn did I feel good.

I took a good look around and was astonished. Any normal person would never be able to see through the murky water, but I could see and sense everything. From the texture of the sand bed beneath me, the hot and cold currents flowing in the water, and the fish swimming in the distance.

**"Well Perce? What do you think?"** Adamos said almost making me jump. He had been silent the entire limo ride over.

"_Honestly?"_ I thought. _"This is pretty amazing."_ Then I felt something nuzzling my leg. I looked down and nearly shot out of the water like before. Because nuzzling my leg was a five-foot-long Mako shark.

"_Uh, what's it doing?" _ I ask as I eye the shark.

Adamos lets out a chuckle. **"I think that it likes you."**

I couldn't even find it in myself to disagree with him as the shark nuzzled me as it swam around. It reminded me more of dog than a vicious apex predator like how they show in Jaws. I reached down and gave the sea creature a tentative petting and scratch on its dorsal fin. It seemed to enjoy that and nuzzled me more, before stopping and shaking its dorsal fin, as if inviting me to take hold.

With both hands I grabbed the fin and the shark took off, pulling me along. It pulled me deeper and deeper into the ocean, farther than I knew light was supposed to be able to reach. But to me it was the same as during the night. I could see as if the sun itself was shining down here. In fact, everything was glowing so brightly down here I had to blink a bit to get used to the lights.

**"We've reached one of my domains. The deepest oceans are laid bare for us to explore. Oh, the shit James Cameron would give to be able to see things like us."** Adamos said in a voice full of mirth.

The shark then slowed and came to a stop. I took that as my signal to get off as I saw where we were. We were at the edge of the sandbank, where the land seemed to drop off into a huge chasm. Looking over the edge, where there should have been darkness, I could see the vast ecosystem that made it their home. Countless fish glowed and swam, Coral lined the walls and acted like lamps, emitting light in many different colors that drove away the darkness. It was as if I was looking at a city from above.

"Woah." I whispered in amazement.

"It is quite a scene is it not?" A voice said near me.

I stood up and looked around me until my eyes landed on a beautiful woman. She had flowing black hair and wore a dress of green silk that flowed like a current.

She gave me a warm smile. "You've come a long way Perseus Jackson. I commend you."

I felt awkward just standing—or floating? —there. "You wouldn't happen to be the woman who spoke to me in the Mississippi River?"

"Yes child. I am a Nereid, a spirit of the sea. But the Naiads, my freshwater cousins, helped me to sustain my life force. They honor Lord Poseidon, even if they do not serve in his court."

"And you serve in his court?" I asked.

She nodded. "It has been many years since a child of the sea has been born. We have been watching you with interest."

This brought a flash of memories to the forefront of my mind. Faces of smiling women in the surf whenever me and my mom visited Montauk when I was little. It never did occur to me all of the weird things that happened in my life when I was younger, now that I think about it.

"Then I'm guessing that he sent you here because the ancient laws won't let him come himself." I said, but I might have said it a bit harshly as the Nereid adopted a look of understanding.

"Indeed, that is one of the reasons, but you cannot judge him to harshly." She spoke. "He stands on the brink of a war that he doesn't want. He must have most of his attention on defending his domain. Even so the laws forbid the gods from helping directly as they cannot show favoritism. Especially to their own children."

"_And yet here you are." _I pointedly said to Adamos in a joking manner.

**"Well I couldn't let you do this alone. You'd probably wander off a cliff without me."** He shot back. **"Besides I can't lose the only brother I got."**

"_What about Triton? Isn't he also our brother?"_

**"Oh yeah. I guess he is."** Adamos says nonchalantly and I feel him shrug with indifference. I internally sweat drop at his easy dismissal of his godly brother.

"Perseus?" The Nereid says, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Are you all right? You were staring off young one." She said with a bit of concern.

"Oh, uh yeah?" I said sheepishly. "I, uh, sometimes get lost in thought."

The Nereid gave a small smile and nod. "Well, I was just telling you that your father has given you a gift." She said as she holds three pearls in her hand. "We know that you plan to journey to Hades' realm, and few mortals have ever done this, and fewer have survived."

"And what exactly are these?" I asked as I took the pearls and inspected them.

"A gift to help you in the underworld. Should you ever find yourself in dire need, smash the pearls at your feet." She said.

"And then what will happen?"

"That," She spoke. "depends on the need. But remember: What belongs to the sea will always return to it."

"Thank you." I said. "I'll be sure to put these to good use."

"Keep your faith young hero and good luck." She said as she started to fade away, until she was no more.

I looked at the three pearls in my hand. _"Any ideas as to what these do?" _

**"Just an escape route should things get to dicey."** Adamos said.** "Its just best to keep them on hand."** Once again, he was vague with his answers, but if he said that they would help us I guess that there was nothing wrong with them.

At that I launched myself up a and swam to the shore. As soon as I walked out of the surf my clothes immediately dried themselves. Annabeth and Grover came jogging from a bit away.

"Well? What happened?" Grover asked.

I then told them about what happened and my talk with the Nereid and showed them the pearls.

Annabeth grimaced. "No gift comes without a price."

"She didn't ask me for anything." I said

Annabeth shook her head. "That's not what I mean. These gifts always have a catch to them."

Then on that note we turned away from the sea and headed back to the city.

We had been walking through L.A. for a while now and somehow, we hadn't found DOA studios. We took a cab from Santa Monica but when we showed the driver the address for DOA studios, he didn't even recognize the address. So instead he just dropped us of in West Hollywood and we had to ask around for directions. But not even the mortals who lived here had heard of it. It didn't even help how chaotic L.A. was laid out. In New York the streets made sense. Everything was set up in a grid and you could easily find where you needed to go by following the numbers and signs. This city however was all street signs and no real system.

"_Do you know where this place is?" _I asked Adamos. I was starting to get frustrated at how no one knew where this place was or what street it was on.

**"Yeah."** Adamos simply said.

"_Really? Which way is it?"_ I said a bit excitedly, I was really sick of asking for directions.

**"Hold it if I'm gonna tell you, you need to follow my directions when we see Hades."** Adamos said.

"_Ok?" _I said not really knowing what he was getting at.

**"All right. You just head straight for two blocks and then take a left. It's a large building so I doubt you'll miss it."** Adamos instructed.

Not really giving it to much thought I just started walking in the direction. Annabeth and Grover didn't question the random direction as we had been walking in random directions for a while now.

I froze however when we walked past an appliance store. In the window of the store, a T.V. was broadcasting an interview of someone familiar—my stepdad Gabe. He was talking to Barbara Walters—as if he were some kind of celebrity. They were interviewing him in front of my apartment building, an there was a young blonde lady standing next to him, holding his shoulder. At the bottom of the screen I noticed a post on the screen, indicating that this was a live broadcast. Annabeth and Grover stopped and backtracked once they realized I wasn't with them. Grover's face contorted a bit as if remembering Gabe's smell.

A fake tear glistened on his cheek. He was saying, "Honest Ms. Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counselor, I'd be a wreck. My stepson took everything I cared about. My wife…my Camaro…I—I'm sorry. I have trouble talking about it."

"That piece of shit." I growled. Annabeth seemed a bit taken back by my hostility, but Grover was wearing a look of hate like mine, though to a lesser degree.

**"You want me to do something about it?"** Adamos asked.

"_Can you do anything about it?" _i asked skeptically.

"I can make him a viral internet sensation."

"_How does that make me feel better?"_ I asked.

**"Just watch."** Adamos said, and I did.

"There you have it America." Barbra Walters turns to the camera. "A man torn apart. An adolescent with serious iss—"

"CAW!" The sound of a bird cries out, interrupting Barbara Walters. A crow then lands near them, standing on top of a newspaper dispenser that was just in the shot.

"Ehm. As I was saying. An adolescent boy with serious iss—" She starts again.

"CAW! CAW! CAW!" Three more crows settle into the shot. Each of them were watching the people with rapt interest, or rather, they were watching Gabe with rapt attention.

Barbara, Gabe and Sugar began to look a little nervous as they looked around. Probably because even more birds had shown up.

At first I had no idea what was even going on, but then I remembered something. Something that Adamos told me when I first got to camp.

"_Crows are one of your sacred animals."_ I mentally whisper.

I felt Adamos smiling, and I couldn't even restrain myself as I let a small smile grace my face.

Grover seemed to notice this and had a confused look. "Percy. What are you smiling about? Your step dad just made you look like a criminal."

"Just watch." Was all I said.

Back on the T.V. Barbara Walters managed to collect herself. "We will now show you the most recent picture of this troubled, young fugi—"

"CAW! CAW! CAW! CAW!" The crows on the screen began to go wild all at once, startling everyone present and even passersby. Then as if in unison the crows all leapt into the air and began to swarm Gabe.

"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" He shouted as the crows began to claw and beck at him. He flailed his arms wildly, trying to get rid of the birds, but instead hit Barbara and Sugar, knocking them to the ground, and ramming into the camera man in his attempt to escape. The camera man however managed to stay standing and turned to catch Gabe running in circles in the street and sidewalk as the crows swarmed him.

I burst out laughing into hysterics as I watched him run around and even when he began to roll on the ground as if trying to put out a fire. Grover and Annabeth were also laughing at what was happening. We laughed at him until the channel immediately switched back to the news anchors who were also trying to control their laughter. It took us a few good minutes before we collected ourselves.

"Oh my gods! Oh my gods! Th—that was the f—funniest thing ever." I barely manage to get out.

"He totally got what he deserved." Grover wheezed out.

"A—as funny as that was," Annabeth said while wiping a tear from her eye. "Who was that?"

"That was my asshole step father Gabe. He was the worst." I started while we began walking once more. "He would spend all of our money on beer and cigars and gambling." I said and my expression darkened. "He was never good enough for my mom and would always treat her like a slave."

"Percy." Grover spoke softly. "You know why your mom married him."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean I'm ok with it." I said. After that the cheerful mood dropped. Annabeth gave me a look of understanding when I spoke about Gabe.

The rest of the walk was quiet, but it didn't last long until we were in front of a large building on Valencia Boulevard. Looking up at the sign above the door, DOA RECORDING STUDIOS was written in gold on black marble. Underneath it, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

The sun had set quite a while ago, yet inside the lobby was packed with people and fully lit. Through the crowd I could see a tough looking guard behind a desk, wearing sunglasses and an ear piece.

I hand each of them a pearl. "All right any ideas on how to get in?" I ask.

"We could sneak in." Grover offered.

"Grover, that's what we're doing." Annabeth said.

"Yeah but… I mean actually sneak past him." Grover amended.

Annabeth shook her head. "It won't work. Even if we do get past him, we would never be able to cross the river Styx. The only way to get across is through the ferry."

"So maybe we lie to him." I said. I continued to talk when both of their attention was on me. "We could convince him we are dead, and he can take us across."

Grover seemed to agree but Annabeth looked as if she had more reservations. "Its not like we have any other ideas."

Annabeth said. "But what if it goes wrong."

"Don't be so negative." I waved off.

"Right," Annabeth huffed. "We're entering the Underworld and I shouldn't feel negative."

"That's the spirit." I said trying to bring up her spirits, and it seemed to work as a small smile spread across her face. "Now all aboard the Underworld express." I said walked into the DOA lobby with both of them following behind me.

AS we entered, soft music began to play on some hidden speakers. The carpets and walls were a steel gray color and was furnished with modern style black leather furniture. The entire place was filled with people. People were standing up, sitting in the chairs, and waiting by the elevator, yet no one was moving or talking. In fact, if I looked at them closely their bodies seemed to become transparent.

The security guards' desk was raised, so we needed to look up when we came forward. The man behind the desk was tall and had elegant features. His chocolate colored skin contrasted with his bleach blonde hair that was styled into a military cut. He wore tortoiseshell glasses and a pristine silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag that i couldn't read.

**"Charon."** Adamos said.

"Are you Charon?" I asked.

The man, named Charon, leaned forward. His glasses gave nothing away from his eyes, and only held my refection. His mouth formed a sickly-sweet smile and he smoothly said, "_Mr_. Charon." His voice was smooth and held some kind of accent that was reminiscent of a British one yet sounded as if English was a second language.

"Mr. Charon." I repeated. This seemed to satisfy him as he leaned back from over his desk.

"Good," Charon said. "Now what can I do for you little dead ones."

"We want to go to the Underworld." Annabeth said.

"Huh, now that's refreshing." Charon said, his mouth twitching upwards.

The three of us looked at each other confused before looking back. "It is?" Annabeth asked.

Charon nodded. "Straight forward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake' or 'I can't be dead'. So how did you die anyways?"

"Um… drowned…in a bath tub."

"All three of you?"

"I was electrocuted." I immediately blurt out. No, I don't know about you but I didn't really want to go to the underworld being known as the son of Poseidon that drowned.

"And what about you?" He asked Annabeth. She discreetly elbowed me in the side for the improvisation.

"I fell out a window." She said blandly.

Charon looked as if he found something humorous. "Pretty impressive. I don't you kids suppose you have coins for passage. Normally with adults I would just charge it to your credit card. Bur alas, children never come prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"Oh but we do have coins." I said as I reached into my backpack and pulled out three drachmas and placed them on the counter. We were starting to run low on the godly coins and maybe had a small pouch of them left. But just this much seemed to be good as Charon's hands hovered over the gold currency greedily.

But then Charon looked directly at me. The stare from behind those reflective glasses seemed to pierce me to my very soul. He then leaned forward and took a whiff of each of us.

"None of you are dead. I should have known. Two godlings and a goat." Charon spoke, his voice reminiscent of a growl. Grover bleated at being called a goat, and that certainly didn't help us.

"It doesn't change that we need to go to the Underworld." I said, trying to sound braver than I was actually feeling. All around us the spirits were beginning to become restless and moved around the lobby.

"Leave while you can," Charon said. "I'll just take these and pretend you weren't here." Charon made a move to grab the drachma, but I was faster and grabbed them before he could.

"No service, no pay." I said.

Charon let out a more menacing growl, one that I felt to my bones. In response the spirits became even more restless and started to pound and scratch the walls.

"And its such a shame," I shook my head with a sigh. "We had more to offer."

I then pulled out the pouch and began to sift the coins through my hand and back into the pouch. The sound of the coins seemed to soothe Charon as his growl softened until it resembled a purr.

"Do you think I can be bought godling? Eh… just out of curiosity how much do you have in there?" He asked, tilting his head to get a peek.

"A lot," I said. "And I bet Hades doesn't pay you nearly enough for your hard work."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always 'please spare me' or 'can I ride for free' I haven't had a pay raise in thousands of years. Do you think these suits are cheap?"

"You clearly deserve better." I spoke. "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay." With each word I stacked another coin on his desk. Charon began to eye the money and then his suit, as if imagining something better.

"I gotta say lad, you are starting to make sense."

"I could mention a pay raise to Lord Hades" I said and stacked a few more coins onto the stack.

"Well, I guess I could fit you three on." Charon said and he scooped the money and stood up. "Come on."

We followed after Charon as we shoved our way to the elevator. Charon pushed the down button on the elevator and the doors opened immediately. We then shuffled into the space along with a flood of ghosts. I thought I heard Charon mumble 'freeloaders' as the car filled. He then shut the door and inserted a key into the panel.

All of a sudden, the car jerked forward. The air around us began to turn misty and the spirits morphed. Their modern clothes being replaced with grey cloaks. I looked over to Charon and saw that he had changed to. Gone was his creamy Italian suit and instead he wore a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were missing, but now I could see his eyes, or rather lack of them as his eyes were empty black voids that emanated death and nothingness.

I then turned back forward, and everything had changed when I wasn't paying attention. Gone was the elevator car, in its place was a wooden barge. Over the edge of the barge was an oily dark river that was carrying different kinds of trash in its currents.

**"I see you've made it to the start of the underworld. Don't fall over, that's the river Styx."** Adamos said, nearly making me jump. With all of the spirits and stuff here it was putting my nerves on edge. **"Nice job bribing Charon by the way. Who knew you could be such a smooth operator?"**

"_Gods don't scare me like that. This place is already freaking me out as it is." _ I say.

**"Aw don't be like that. This place is pretty nice once you get used to it."**

"_I highly doubt that." _I muttered.

A loud howl sounded out and shook the cavern, breaking me away from my internal conversation. I looked to where the sound came from and saw that we were getting closer to the shore. Volcanic rocks and black sand stretched across the edge of the river.

"Old Three Face is hungry," Charon said. He smiled, but it felt far more sinister than anything else.

The boat then lurched forward as it slid to a stop on the black sands. The troves of the dead began to pile off the boat and into the underworld.

"I'd wish you luck mate," Charon spoke. "But there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise." At that Charon then pushed of the black sand and began to row down from whence he came, all the while I could faintly hear him humming some song that was similar to Barry Manilow.

We then turned and followed after the spirits up a beaten path. We were now at the entrance to the Underworld.

**A/N: Howdy yall. Its me Momentei. I just want to apologize for taking so long, but finals were a pain in the ass. Anyways there's not much happening in this chapter but were starting to get closer to the end of the first book. I want to thank all of you incorrigible sexy beasts for reading and for following this book. Anyways finals are now over, and winter break is here. That means that I can write more. WOOHHOO. Well leave a review on the story and what you think. Don't be shy it won't bite (much). And I hope you all have sweet dreams as a classy Adamos appears in your dreams and plays a classy piano, lulling you to sleep.**

**Over and out,**

**Momentei.**


	17. Chapter 16:Tour of the Underworld

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

**_Adamos talking_**

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 16**

**A Five Star Tour of the Underworld**

"You know when I heard we were going to have to sneak into the underworld, I never thought that this," I motion in front of me. "was what the entrance would be like."

Annabeth, Grover, and I had just stepped off of Charon's boat and following the spirits a short way, made it to the entrance of the underworld. Normally when entering the Greek equivalent of Hell, you'd expect a black iron gate, a massive door with pictures of the dead or some other hellish entrance you'd see in a horror movie. But no, instead the entrance to the underworld looks like a security checkpoint at Kennedy International Airport. There were three entrances to the underworld underneath a black archway. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector and security cameras were mounted in different places on the archway. In place of airport security were a bunch of ghouls dressed in black robes similar to Charon. They even acted like airport security by frisking a spirit every now and then. One of the ghosts even got sent to the back of the line for trying to cut.

"Honestly it kinda fits." Grover said. Annabeth and I gave him weird looks and he blushed at the staring. "I mean haven't you ever had to go through a security terminal. They're a nightmare."

I took a moment and thought about it and found that he was kinda right, I mean I've never been in an airport, but I had gone through security before and it was not an enjoyable experience.

We walked closer to the entrance and now had a good view of the three lines. Two of them were marked with an attendant on duty sign while the third one was marked E-Z DEATH. It was a bit strange because it was the E-Z DEATH line that was moving the fastest while the other two were barley moving at all.

"_What's with the lines?"_

**"They're the lines for judgement. The two slow ones are for judgement by the three judges of the underworld. They decide your after life by reviewing your life. The judges are enlisted from famous people in history. If the judges deem you worthy you go to Elysium, if the deem you as a piece of shit like Gabe, you go to the fields of punishment for eternal damnation and torture. And if they deem the human equivalent of a rice cake than you go to the fields of Asphodel."** Adamos explained.

I thought about asking Adamos what qualifies you as a 'human rice cake' but thought against it.

"_And what exactly are the fields of Asphodel?" _I asked instead.

**"Eternal boredom is the best way to describe it. Souls sent there are stripped of their personalities and just wander in a field for eternity. Its actually where that E-Z DEATH line leads to."**

"_Why would they choose that? Why not go to the judges?" _I asked.

I felt Adamos shrug. **"Most people probably think that they'll be sent there anyways and don't bother, the rest probably are to scared of the fields of punishment to attempt judgement."**

The line of ghouls slowly moves along, with the three of use going along with them. As we got closer, we heard the howls of a massive beast echo through the cave. I looked around to find where it was coming from, Grover and Annabeth doing the same, and it wasn't till we were around fifty feet from the security points when the space in front of us began to shimmer.

In front of us the most massive Rottweiler I had ever seen shimmered into existence. It was easily bigger than any elephant on earth, its body seemed to be trying to settle on if it wanted to be solid or transparent, and it had three massive heads, each one trained on one of us.

The dead seemed to not be bothered by it as they walked past it and even in between its legs, their heads not even close to reaching its belly as this beast was so massive.

"Is that…" I started.

"Yeah." Annabeth whispered.

And is it…" I continued.

"Right at us." Grover whimpered.

The massive dog let out large huffs as if it was taking a deep smell. Then it growled. The sound of the growl reverberated throughout the cave, making the loose stones on the floor move.

"I think it smells us." I said.

"That's all right cause we have a plan." Grover said in a small voice.

"Yeah." Annabeth said, though her voice was trembling. "A plan."

"_Please tell me you have a plan?"_ I nervously think.

"**I have many things. Enough money to buy England. Secrets that can topple governments. Houses in Shambala and El Dorado. This, I'm still thinking about. I mean Cerberus is still a dog so you can try to distract him with something, I guess?"**

"_You're just fucking with me, aren't you?" _

**"A little. But that doesn't change what you need to do."**

"So, either of you have anything we can use to distract it?" I asked. "Any bones we can give it, I mean this is the Underworld."

Annabeth's face then shifted from terrified to one of realization. "Why didn't I think of it sooner." She exclaimed. Annabeth then started to dig around in her back pack and pulls out a red ball the size of a melon. On the side of the ball was written WATERLAND, DENVER, CO.

"See the ball Cerberus? Sit!" Annabeth shouted.

"GRRRRRR." Cerberus growled.

"Any idea what he's saying?" I whisper to Grover.

"I don't think that there's a word in any human language for what he just called us." Grover whispered back.

"Cerberus sit!" Annabeth yelled with more force.

**"This is getting us nowhere."** Adamos said. I then felt a slight tingling sensation in my body, it was slightly uncomfortable and itched as the feeling grew, but I felt Adamos's power flow out of my body. The spirits passing us immediately give us a wide berth and Cerberus's body tenses. Annabeth doesn't seem to notice as her focus is solely on Cerberus, but Grover started to look uncomfortable. Or at least more than he already was.

"You want the ball Cerberus? Sit!" Annabeth shouted. At this I felt Adamos's energy flare up, as if it was giving an authoritative command to comply with her demands.

"_What are you doing?" _I ask in astonishment as I watch the behemoth of a dog sit on its haunches.

**"I'm getting you in."** Adamos says in a stern ton that makes me want to stand up straight and at attention.** "A simple power that all war gods have. Call it what you will, charisma, authority, intimidation, or all of the above. Aphrodite can charm people into doing what she wants with her words. War gods such as Athena, Ares, and myself can emit an aura that compels people to follow our orders, much like a general commanding their soldiers."** Adamos explains.** "The only problem of using this is that now Hades most likely has his attention all on us if it wasn't before."**

"_Well we wanted his attention, anyways right?" _I say rhetorically.

"Good boy!" Annabeth shouts as she tosses the ball to Cerberus. The middle head snaps forward and catches the ball before the other heads and begins to chew on the ball. The left head snaps at the middle one and growls as it tries to steal the ball away.

"Drop it." Annabeth ordered.

Cerberus's heads stop fighting and look at her. The ball was wedged in between its teeth as it stares down at Annabeth.

Adamos let out another wave of power and Cerberus drops the ball. Or at least what remains of the ball as it lands in a torn and slobbery pile on the ground. Annabeth picked up the mess in her hand, ignoring the slobber.

"Good boy." She said. She then glanced at us out of the corner of her eye. "Head to the E-Z DEATH line. It's faster."

"But—" Grover was saying before I grabbed him and pulled him away, but not before sending Annabeth a worried glance.

Grover and I quickly ran past Cerberus. The beast let out a growl only for Annabeth to draw its attention back to herself. She then throws the ball away, commanding Cerberus to fetch. Adamos sends one final pulse of power to order Cerberus to fetch. The dog rushes off to fetch the ball and Annabeth takes chance and runs after us and into the E-Z DEATH line.

The three of us pushed through the line of the dead and through the metal detector. The machine immediately went off. Red lights flashed and a mechanical voice began screaming, "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!"

We didn't stop and pushed through into the Underworld and took off into a sprint. The ghosts wearing black shrouds started moving about in a frenzy as the alarms blared. As we ran I looked back to see the cloaked phantoms moving in our direction and at this we picked up our pace.

After a few minutes we dove behind an immense black tree trunk that had fallen over. The security ghouls rushed past us as we held our breaths, trying not to make a sound. After we were sure that they were gone we each let out a breath of relief.

But then something occurred to me. "Why did you have a rubber ball with you?" I asked Annabeth.

She shrugged. "Honestly? I kinda forgot. I just picked it up at the water park. Maybe I thought it would be fun to play with as we traveled. I don't know I was starving, and sleep deprived at the time."

We sat there for a bit longer, taking time to rest and catch out breaths from the running we just did. Annabeth looked over the dead black tree and looked around to make sure the coast was clear by using her invisibility cap. Once she was sure we began walking until we stopped at the top of a hill.

If there was anyway to describe it, the fields of Asphodel was like a sea of people all bunched together, waiting to listen to a concert only for it to be delayed for eternity due to the power being cut. There were no lights throughout the cavern and the wandering souls were all whispering, but all at once so it only sounded like incoherent babbling that echoed through out the cavern. The only unique things in the fields were the random trees that sprouted in random places.

The three of us walked into the sea of spirits, Grover was holding onto both of our shoulders as a way to avoid being separated in the crowd. I was grateful because even though the spirits looked like they could pass through you they apparently had just enough form to at least give you a little shove if you make contact.

We eventually got to where the land seemed to split apart as we walked. On the area off to my right I could see what must have been the fields of punishment. The place was covered in fire and smoke. I could see different types of torture being performed down there, and there were some that I wished I hadn't seen.

Off on the other side was a small gated off valley. This place was bright and sunny and looked like a utopian paradise compared to the drab and bleakness of the rest of the Underworld. This must have been Elysium, but what saddened me about the place was that even though we were far away I could tell that the place was pretty empty. Meaning that most people are never able to reach this oasis of peace in the vast desert of torment that is the Underworld.

We passed by these two areas without much issue and as we moved further into the fields of Asphodel the amount of spirits began to dwindle till there were only a sparse few present. The light around us began to dim, or at least for Grover and Annabeth it would seem, as they began walking more cautiously, what I did notice however was that the darkness seemed to suck the color out of our clothes.

"_This place just screams bleak and depressing."_ I think.

**"I know what you mean."** Adamos says. **"I always told Hades to let Persephone do a bit of remodeling to the place, but he always said no."**

I remember that Persephone was the goddess of spring and the queen of the underworld. I was starting to imagine what this place would look like if it was filled with flowers when a loud screech interrupted my thoughts.

In the distance I could see a palace made of glittering obsidian. Directly above the castle I could see three humanoid forms with bat wings circling about. My only guess was that these were the Furies and I don't think that they would be too welcoming to us after we killed them.

"You don't think that its to late to turn back?" Grover said with false hope.

"We'll be okay." I said with as much confidence that I could muster, but it sounded weak even to me because I was growing more nervous the closer we got.

"Yeah." Annabeth added. "We can do this."

"Yeah but you never know, "Grover exclaimed. "The lord of the Underworld might be in Elysium right now. Maybe we should check there."

"Come on goat boy." Annabeth then grabbed his arm.

Grover then yelped as his shoes grew wings and began to lift him off the ground.

"Grover this isn't any time to mess around." Annabeth chided.

"But I didn't—" He yelped again as the shoes took off, dragging him away from us.

"MAIA!" He yelped, but the magic word seemed to have no effect on the out of control shoes. "Maia! Help!" He shouted.

I quickly got over my shock and tried to grab Grover's hand, but I just missed him as he began flying downhill.

We immediately ran after him.

Annabeth desperately shouted. "The shoes! Untie them."

Grover desperately tried but he was never able to reach the footwear, either because the shoes sporadically moved about or that he didn't have enough abdominal strength and flexibility to reach them. Once we get him out of this, I'm suggesting he go in a diet or something because the cheese enchiladas were clearly not doing him any favors.

We chased after him, trying to keep him insight as he ripped through the legs of many spirits, who all grumbled something unintelligible at him. I thought he was going straight to Hades palace, until he veered off course and went another direction. The slope then got even steeper and he began to pick up speed.

Up ahead I saw where the shoes were taking him. Grover was speeding along towards a cave and as I laid my eyes upon it, it sent a chill through my spine, like ice water.

**"The entrance to Tartarus."** Adamos tensely whispered in my mind.

My eyes widened at the name. I remembered it from my classes and Adamos's lessons. If the Underworld was Hell, then Tartarus was Super Hell. With desperation now fueling my body and mind I tried desperately to think of something that would save my friend.

Water powers? No there was no water for me to take from. Magic? No even if I found a spell that could help, I wasn't confident that I could cast it properly. I could ask Adamos for a power boost, but I wasn't sure if I could catch him in time—wait! Adamos's powers!

I reach deep down and try to feel for the earth around me. We were underground so the stuff was in abundance but as I reached out I felt it resist a little. It wasn't a lot but I forcibly pushed past it and took control of the ground. I felt a massive pull in my gut that caused me to stagger for a second, but I pushed on. Then with on mighty tug I forced the earth to rise in front of us. A massive shard or earth erupted in front of Grover suddenly. It was so sudden that the shoes collided with the stone but then redirected itself, trying to make its way to the pit once again, but that moment of stopping was enough as Grover grabbed the stone shard and was hanging on for dear life.

Annabeth and I immediately caught up to him as he held on to the rock, the shoes pulling him and keeping his legs suspended in midair.

"Grab his legs!" Annabeth ordered. I complied, even though I was feeling tired from summoning the stone, and I grabbed Grover's legs.

Annabeth immediately set to work on removing the cursed shoes, which wasn't easy as they bucked every now and then. Finally, Annabeth managed to pry both the shoes off of his hooves and I immediately had to lift his body weight.

As I set Grover down the three of us watched the shoes take off and plummet straight down into the pit. I was about to suggest we get away when I felt a chill go down my spine. Out of the pit a roar echoed in rage, but there was no sound. The silence fell upon us and seemed to be pressing down on my very soul. Whatever was causing this felt ancient, powerful, and evil. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Annabeth and Grover slightly hunched over as well, both were covering their ears as they were affected by the same overbearing silent pressure.

Then it stopped, but I still felt its affects. My body felt cold and weighed down. None of the monsters that I encountered, even the Furies, gave me this feeling. I decided that the farther away we were the better.

"I—I think we should get going." I suggested.

Grover and Annabeth just dumbly nodded in agreement, to scared of recent events to form words at the moment, and I could blame them.

We slowly walked back towards Hades' castle. The Furies still circling from above the castle.

"_Adamos—wha—what was that?" _I hesitantly ask, not sure if I wanted to know or not.

**"It's not something you should concern yourself with at the moment." **Adamos said, but i could hear the tenseness in his voice.

"_Why not!" _I mentally shout. _"Grover was nearly dragged into Super Hell and you're telling me not to worry about it!"_

**"You were never in any danger Percy so I don't think you should worry."**

"_But Grover was in danger." _I reason.

**"Oh yes gods forbid anything happens to the goat."** Adamos says dryly.** "I'd break my heart if he perished."**

"_Did…Did you know it was going to happen?" _

**"… No comment."**

"_You did!" _I mentally shout in anger. _"You knew he was in danger and didn't even think to warn me."_

**"Yeah? So, what. The goat's safety is none of my concern. You're the only one who I need to worry about."**

"_He has a name." _I growl out. _"It's Grover."_

**"Whoopty do. I don't give a shit."** Adamos huffs. **"Listen for some stupid reason you consider him a friend. I personally don't give a damn whether he dies or not. You can save him all you want but don't expect me to help you do it."**

"_How can you be such a callous asshole?"_ I ask in disbelief

**"How can you be so impossibly naïve? Look now we both have unanswered questions." **Adamos retorts sarcastically.

"_Can't you try to be nicer to him." _I try to take the polite route.

**"No."** Adamos said with a tone of finality.

I huff in annoyance and turn my attention on making my way to Hades' palace. But this conversation wasn't over, and I was going to bring it up again in the future or at least figure out what his deal with Grover really was.

The three of us walked closer to the palace and the shrieking form the Furies seemed to get louder. Just up a head was what I guessed Hades' front door as there were two massive bronze gates sitting open. Each one was at least two stories tall and upon closer inspection there were scenes etched into the metal. Scenes of warriors slaughtering each other, an atomic bomb exploding over a city, what looked like plague victims dying in the streets, and… you know what, you get the idea. It was horrific and depressing.

Inside the courtyard however was one of the strangest gardens I had ever seen. It wasn't necessarily bad, in fact it was beautiful in its own way. Multicolored mushrooms and glowing neon flowers grew from the ground, providing an iridescent glow to the area. Large clumps of gemstones sprouted in different places. Rubies, diamonds and others all refracted the light given from the plants and provided a faint multicolored light.

What creeped me out were the statues standing around the garden as if they were all invited to a summer cookout. Statues of adults, children running, centaurs, satyrs, and even a few animals all smiled creepily.

In the center of the garden though was a massive tree bearing fruits. It had to be the prettiest sight out of the entire garden. The trunk looked like multiple trees had sprouted and coiled themselves around themselves before branching of. The wood was a deep reddish-purple color that reminded me of a fine wine. The leaves that sprouted from the branches shifted colors from green to blue to purple and so forth. The pomegranates themselves looked to be constantly in bloom and radiated soft light.

"Come on." Annabeth urged. "We need to keep going."

I understood why she wanted to leave. This was the garden of Persephone and those pomegranates were giving of an almost unbearably alluring scent, but I knew that if I ate one, I would be trapped here for eternity.

I grabbed Grover by the collar of his shirt and pulled him away as he started to wander into the garden.

We walked up the steps and into the main palace. The floor itself seemed to be made of polished bronze and warped our reflection as I looked at it.

There was no ceiling to the massive structure and skeleton warriors were guarding side doorways that we passed every now and then. They were dressed as warriors from different eras and wars. They made no motion to stop us but that didn't keep their hollow eye sockets from following our every movement as we made our way to a massive set of bronze doors at the end of the hall.

A platoon of skeleton soldiers all carrying halberds lined both ends of the doors like a ceremonial guard.

"So, do we knock?" Grover muttered.

A howling wind then echoed through the hall and the doors swung open. The skeleton guard raised their halberds like an archway over our heads, making a tunnel into the throne room.

"I guess that means we go in." Annabeth said.

I however was eying the skeletons as I swore I saw them grinning at us, and my mind went to thinking how those halberds seemed much like a guillotine, ready to drop down and kill us if we messed up.

As we stepped inside i had to admit, the throne room was quite immaculate. The entire room was made from black marble and gems seemed to be engraved into the stone, making the walls shimmer. The room was mostly empty except for the two thrones that sat towards the end of the room, however the larger of the two thrones was occupied.

Out of all of the gods I had met he seemed to be the most godlike, no offense to Adamos but he won by a bit more.

Just sitting he was at least ten feet tall and was dressed in long black robes and had a crown of braided gold resting on his head. His skin was albino white, his hair pitch black and reached to his shoulders. Compared to Ares this guy wasn't really bulked up but just being in his mere presence I could tell he was stronger no doubt. He absolutely radiated power. His gaze was calculating and seemed to make it as if a pressure was resting upon my shoulders. I felt like he should be the one giving orders and held far more wisdom and knowledge than I could ever possess. Adamos said that he stood as an equal with this god as well as our dad and Zeus, so it made me wonder just how much he was holding back.

"You are brave to come here son of Poseidon," He said in a voice that was as smooth as oil. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

At the sound of his voice I felt the air grow a bit colder and a numbness seep into my bones. I felt tired, like I could just collapse and sleep forever. That is until I felt a spark of warmth flood my system.

**"I think it would be best if I took over. We need Hades on our side."** Adamos said. After a moment I accepted it and let go of my control. I honestly didn't know what I would say to the lord of the dead. I mean I had been trying to find the right words to say since we left the casino but now, standing in his presence felt the words die in my throat. Especially when I got a good look at his robes. Every shift in his movement caused a plethora of faces to appear, faces of torment probably from the fields of punishment, silently screaming in agony.

**"_Lord Hades," _**Adamos started. **_"Exalted uncle. We came along way and faced many trials to appear before you."_**

Hades brow rose slightly at the shift in tone and actions. Annabeth and Grover how ever had more visual expressions on their faces.

**"_I merely ask you if you would be willing to help return the Master bolt to Olympus."_** Adamos said.

"Are you insinuating that I should help you after what you have done." Hades said as his eyes grew dangerously bright. Skeletal soldiers marched into the room from out of the shadows. Grover and Annabeth huddled together, looking ready to fight the bone warriors. Adamos however never even gave them a glance, keeping his gaze solely on Hades.

**"_Of course not Lord Hades. But with the deadline coming soon I believe that it is the utmost importance to keep war from descending on Olympus. Surely you would know what that would mean?"_**

Hades brought his hands to his face and began to message his temple. "A war, another gods damn war. It seems that once more my kingdom will be flooded with souls. How many more subdivisions will I have to open!" By this point Hades was out of his throne and pacing back and forth and ranting. The three of us were watching him as he moved about, his height at around fifteen feet now that he wasn't sitting. "I will have to hire more security ghouls, double overtime for the staff. My expenses will go through the roof. After I just managed to balance my finances."

**"_All the more reason to keep the war from starting Uncle." _**

"Yeah," Annabeth started talking, but I nearly forgot she even existed she had been so quiet. "So if you would just give us the bolt."

"W—we'll be on our way and out of your hair milord." Grover added on.

However, this seemed to be the wrong thing to say as both gods snapped to their gaze to them and I felt major irritation come from Adamos as he was probably expecting the two to shut up and not bother the lord of the dead.

"You dare to lie!" Hades' voice rose. "You dare accuse me of stealing the bolt while my Helm of Darkness is missing!"

"Your helm…is missing?" Annabeth said as she now had a confused look along with Grover. Adamos kept a straight face.

"Do not feign innocence to me girl. You and that satyr have been gallivanting along with this _hero_," He spat the word like it was an insult. "coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name no doubt. Zeus may be a fool but does your father truly believe he can blackmail me into joining his war on Olympus?"

Adamos said nothing as Hades gave us a death glare.

"This is my counter proposal sea spawn, return my helm and turn the Master bolt over to me, or I will stop death." Hades threatened. "The gates to the Underworld will be closed and I will let the dead pour back into the world of the living, and I will have your corpse to lead them against Olympus for these unjust accusations." At this the skeleton guard took one step closer with their weapons drawn.

Inside I was feeling absolutely livid. Hades was accusing and threatening me for stealing something that I had never even seen before. I wanted to yell and shout at him but Adamos held a firm grip on the controls, though I did manage to get enough control to make my eye twitch in annoyance.

**"_You know," _**Adamos said as he rose from the kneeling position that he maintained the entire time. _"**I was hoping this could be done peacefully, without the ultimatums and with us actually working together. You know, once I return the bolt, I could help you find your helm. I mean that is what I was hoping since you let us enter your domain so easily."**_

"_That was easily?" _I thought.

Adamos pulled the magic backpack off of my shoulders and reached in. After a second, he pulled his arm out and along with a two-foot-long cylinder of metal that coursed with electricity and hummed with power.

"Is that…" Grover stared in shock.

"You are the thief." Annabeth said, her voice laced with feelings of betrayal, but then her face contorted in anger. "You tricked us, I can't believe you would…" She started shouting.

Adamos snapped his fingers and a pulse of green was sent out from the snap. Grover and Annabeth both collapsed to the floor in unconscious heaps.

**"_That's enough out of you two. You've been a pain in the ass as it is, I don't need you screwing this up even more." _ **Adamos said as he barely gave them a glance.

Hades's eyes narrowed at the display. "Rendering your companions useless was not a wise choice."

**"_Actually, it was the best course of action. They would have only been a nuisance at this point." _**Adamos said and activated the Masterbolt with a flick of his wrist. A small wave of electricity flowed outwards and immediately destroyed the skeleton guards, sending them flying and reduced to nothing more than piles of broken and slightly charred bones. **_"Now that that's out of the way we can get down to actual business Uncle."_**

"And what business would that be?" Hades said though his voice was not amused.

**"_Joining me of course." _**Adamos said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. **_"You stand at a strategic point of value, being able to monitor the realm of monsters, all the while having a kingdom and army that can rival Olympus and /or Atlantis. Plus, you being outside of Zeus's authority but having some sort of sway over the council during the winter solstice. You, Uncle, are an important figure that anyone would be a fool to ignore."_**

Hades let out a loud laugh that echoed through the hall, but the laugh was humorless and sent my nerves even more on edge than before.

"Demigods. You're all the same." Hades says. "Your arrogance and pride make you foolish. You think that you can come into my domain, throw a few sweet words at me and demand what you please."

**"_No, I don't. I need you to just hear me out and let me explain everythi—"_**

"ENOUGH!" Hades shouts. "I tire of hearing you. Even if you don't have my helm, I can still have that bolt. It will make an excellent bargaining tool."

**"_I told you before that I can't do that Uncle."_**

"Oh, but what if I offer you this." Hades said. He snaps his fingers and a ball of golden fire erupts in front of us.

My breath hitched. In the center of the flames was my mother, her face frozen in the same horrified face as when the Minotaur was crushing her.

"_Adamos." _I whisper worriedly.

Adamos narrows his eyes. **"The prophecy Percy. We need to leave your mother behind."**

"_What?! No, we can't! We—You have to save her. Please!" _I begged internally. If I was in control, I felt that I would barely be holding in tears. I was so close to rescuing my mother, but I was unable. I had no control of the situation and could only watch as it unfolded.

**"Just trust me!"** Adamos mentally shouted. **"She will be fine. I'll make Hades see reason. I promise."** His voice turning soft and caring.

I was worried but something told me he was right. The line of the prophecy 'You will fail to save what matters most in the end'. I wouldn't save her but maybe Adamos can make sure she's safe.

**"_I can't accept that deal Uncle. If you would just listen, I can explain everything."_**

"No. I think that we are done here." Hades says and with the wave of his hand my mother disappears and with her it felt like a piece of me went with her. "If you won't give me the bolt then I suppose I must take it by force, and use of such a weapon as the Masterbolt in my domain can be taken as a challenge."

Hades raised his hand and the shadows seemed to gather in his palm before he shot out a black orb of energy.

Adamos's eyes widened and he raised his hands, one of them still clutching the Masterbolt, and a large shield flared to life as I felt him channeling large amounts of his own power. It was comprised of seven layers, each one round like a massive magenta colored barrier, however the shield closest to us was shaped like a seven petaled flower. I had never seen this spell before, but a faint whisper entered my mind. _"Rho Aias.'_

The black orb collided with the seven-layer shield and exploded with massive force. The blast destroyed most of Adamos's shield leaving only two layers with the second to last layer cracked and barely hanging together.

_**"You know Uncle if you want to kill me than you're going to have to do better than those half assed pot shots."**_

Hades let out a huff. "It seems as if I must." He then gathered even more power and launched another blast of power, however this one was double the size of the last one.

As the blast barreled through the last two layers of the barrier Adamos reached to my wrist and pulled on the metal band there. Immediately it morphs into Adamos's weapon of power. Without hesitation he thrusts the spear at the incoming blast. The spear ignites in streams of celestial fire, as if the weapon can tell that Adamos was the one wielding it instead of me.

The two attacks collide and push against each other. Wisps of energy leak from them and the air crackles with power. Adamos gives a grunt and a powerful push, the spear piercing through the blast causing it to detonate and scatter.

For a moment Hades had a dumbfound look on his face as he stares at Adamos as he plants the butt of his spear onto the floor and tightens his grip on the Masterbolt in his other hand.

The moment passes and Hades eyes seem to burn with untold amounts of power. His face, once cold and calculating was now contorted in to a visage of rage and determination.

"Where did you get that spear boy!" He roared. And on my skin, it felt like the air itself was burning me ever so slightly, as Hades's took a step closer.

**"_This spear has been mine since it was first crafted." _**Adamos said coolly.

"Do not lie to me boy!" Hades spat. "That weapon has been lost for millennia and I will be damned if I let it be tainted by your or anyone else's hands!" Out of the shadows near Hades's feet a pure black staff erupts from the ground and he grabs it. "If you don't hand over that spear you will not leave here alive." Hades growled, and all around the room seemed to darken and the torches on the wall dimmed considerably.

**"_Uncle Hades, if you would just listen. This spear has always been mine. It was forged alongside your helm, my father's trident and the bolt. I AM Adamos, lord of the earth and celestial bodies."_**

"Do not lie to me boy!" Hades growls and brings his staff down in an overhead swing. Adamos brings up both the Spear of Ruin and the Masterbolt into an x formation and caught the staff. However, the force seemed to be to much, even with Adamos reinforcing my body with godly power. The impact forces Adamos to a knee and presses the two symbols of power back to him. "I do not know where you learned that name sea spawn, but I will pull the answers out of you in the fields of Punishment."

**"_Uncle! Look at me!" _**Adamos shouts as he stares Hades dead in the eyes. I felt a shift in my body, and I look into Hades's eyes. In the reflection I saw my normal sea green eyes shift and change into Adamos's multicolored ones. **_"I swear on my name, Adamos, that I am not dead. I swear on the love for my wife, Athena, when I married her that I am who I say I am!"_** Adamos shouts, and with a heavy grunt pushes Hades off of him. I half expected him to charge the god, but instead he lowers his weapons.

Hades though looked as if he had lost all the will to fight. I could see him scanning Adamos with apprehension, trying to find any lie in his form. "How do you know of that union?" Hades asked, his voice no longer angry and his face an emotionless mask.

**"_I've been telling you Uncle." _**Adamos said with slightly labored breathing. _"**Its really me. There were only five people at that ceremony. You, Hestia, Athena, Hera, and myself. We had you and Hestia give us away in secret because our fathers would never have agreed to the marriage. The rings were made from silver and Athena's had a diamond in hers that you helped me pick out." **_Adamos said wistfully as he stared into the floor, as if it was playing the long-ago memory just for him. Hades' mouth was gaping like a fish as he seemed to be trying to find words, but they escaped him. Adamos however didn't stop talking. _**"If that isn't enough, I have a voucher with me for proof."** _

Adamos then placed both the Masterbolt and the Spear of Ruin on the floor, leaving himself completely defenseless, and started to rummage through the back pack once more. He then pulled out a small jar that had a burning flame inside and held it out. Almost immediately the room felt warmer and cozy.

Hades looked between Adamos and the jar, hesitating for a brief moment before shrinking down to normal person height and grasping the jar. He brought the jar closer and began to inspect it for a few moments, and then his eyes widened slightly.

"Hearth fire." He whispered, but it echoed in the empty room. He then looked at Adamos. "Hestia doesn't give this out to just anyone, even to her siblings."

_**"Now do you believe me unc—" **_Adamos spoke but was cut off as the lord of the dead stepped forward and embraced him in a hug.

To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. Here he was trying to kill us not a moment ago and now he's hugging Adamos.

"If my sister has so much faith that you are who you say you are, than I will believe you as well. It truly warms this heart of mine to know that you have returned to us after so many centuries." He then stops the embrace and hold Adamos arm's length away. "But if you tell anyone of what happened here just now I will deny it all." He says with a serious face, but in his eyes I can see sparks of joy.

_**"Of course, Uncle. You do have a reputation to uphold."**_ Adamos said with a smile.

Hades nods and hands the hearth fire back before he grows back to large size and sits upon his throne. He then snaps his fingers and a smaller black marble throne grows from the floor which Adamos gives a grateful nod, picks up both symbols of power and sits.

"Now," Hades says as he clasps his hands together. "Tell me what you are doing here?" Hades asks, his voice not demanding but rather patient and understanding.

**"_Hold on," _**Adamos says and taps the tip of his spear onto the floor of Hades's palace. A complex magic circle spreads on the floor and begins to glow. Hades raises a brow yet does nothing to stop it. Then I feel a pull, I initially ignore it until it grows stronger and stronger till I could feel it pull me out.

A brief moment later I rub my eyes and I'm greeted with a figure that looks like me, except sitting in the throne that Hades made.

"Huh." I said. I blink as my voice echoes, which doesn't happen when Adamos takes control.

**"_Percy." _** The other me states simply, bringing my attention back to him.

"Uh hey…me." I say and wave, but I stop as I get a good look at my hand. It was as white as Hades and partially see through like the spirits in the field of Asphodel. "Gaah!" I shout and begin to freak out.

**"_Percy!" _**The other me shouts and I look at him. **_"Its all right. You're not in any danger," _**He says in a calm voice. **_"Its me Adamos." _**He had the nerve to give me a smirk.

"It's fine. It's FINE!" I shout. "What did you do to me!?"

**"**_**I dragged you out of your body."** _

"Why!?"

**"_Because it makes things much easier to explain without having to switch back and forth."_**

I give Adamos an incredulous look and then turn to Hades. "Can you believe this guy?"

Hade's looks at me with a smirk, as if my near panic attack was a show for his amusement. "It's good to see that you haven't changed in all these years." He says to Adamos in which he just shrugs.

"How am I even here?" I asked.

**"_The underworld is the only place where a soul can be summoned without the need for a sacrifice. If we were in the mortal world the spell would need a sacrifice to be made. All right," _**Adamos claps his hands together. **_"I believe the best place to start would be the beginning." _** Adamos says and starts recounting how we met and just about everything up until now, with me adding a few things in but Hades didn't really seem to care about that or just told me to stop complaining. **_"And that is everything up until now. Any questions?" _**Adamos asked.

Hades had a contemplative look. "This soul possession," He motions between us. "Where did you learn such a thing?"

**"_Egypt." _**Adamos simply stated as if that explained anything but to Hades it seemed as if it made perfect sense.

"And now that you are here Nephew, what do you plan to do?" He says with a raised brow. I look at Adamos as well as I didn't know the full scope of his plans either.

**"_I plan on winning this war Uncle. I have watched our pantheon for a long time and have found evidence of the Crooked one rising." _**Adamos said grimly, and somehow Hades became even more pale.

"Are you sure?" Hades asked, his brows creased in focus. Adamos gives a shallow nod and Hades seems to sink into his throne.

"This is not good." Hades mutters.

**"_And this is why I need your help Uncle. You're the only one I can count on to do anything about it."_**

"And what would you suggest I do about it Nephew?" Hades asks as he rubs the bridge of his nose. "I am barely in any position to help anyone."

"_Build up your army, post more patrols around the pit and the entrances and exits of the Underworld. You know, that kind of stuff." _Adamos says.

"Its not that simple nephew. I can't just increase my army; my brothers might take it as a declaration of war. And I'm my forces are already spread thin as it is. I simply can't spare any expense for these preparations, not without shutting down large parts of the Underworld."

I watched the two gods as they conversed with each other. This level of conversation was far beyond what I was capable of helping with. These were war preparations and I was just twelve years old.

**"_How much?" _**Adamos asked.

Hades raised one of his brows. "How much what?" He asked, though i felt like he already knew what Adamos was talking about.

**"_How much would it cost for you to bolster your army and your servants?" _**Adamos said with a serious face.

Hades was silent for a moment before responding. "Ten."

I grew confused as Hades said the number. If they were talking prices, ten didn't seem like a large number, but apparently to Adamos it was as he had a disgusted scowl on his face. **_"All right Uncle. I'll even add in an extra five as a buffer in case of over expenditure."_**

Hades nodded at the added amount. "Should I be worried about you coming after me for interest once this is all over?"

Adamos shakes his head no. _**"This isn't a loan Uncle, this is an investment and the price of your allegiance. I know you always honor your deals so that's what this is. A deal."** _

Hades smirked. "Smart boy."

Adamos returned the smirk. **_"Well I had a very dark and grumpy teacher, but he was a good teacher none the less."_**

"Then it is agreed. For the price of my allegiance to your endeavors, fifteen billion drachmas." Hades said as he shrunk down and help out his hand.

I would have choked on my spit if I could in my new ghost body as I heard the word billion. Adamos however just took Hades' hand and gave it a firm shake. He then tapped the butt of his spear onto the floor.

**"_All right Uncle. If you check your accounts, then you'll see its all payed."_** Adamos said with a grimace.

Hades rolled his eyes. "Don't be like that. I know for a fact that you never were one to spend a lot of money on anything, and I highly doubt that's changed now."

**"_The number still hurts." _**Adamos huffs.

"Um… excuse me?" I said drawing the attention of both gods as they seemed to have forgotten me. "Now that this is all done," I motion between them. "Can you release my mom?" I asked.

Hades eyes lost what little warmth they held as the switched from Adamos to me. "Not yet." He said.

"Why not?" I almost shouted.

"If I were to release your mother now there runs a chance of Zeus either killing her or abducting her to make a point to Poseidon." He stated as if were as true as saying the sky is blue. "I will keep her safely here until after the bolt has been returned, you have my word."

I let out a small sigh. "That's…better I guess."

"Now Nephew," Hades turns back to Adamos. "I can assume you don't have my helm," Adamos shakes his head at the statement. "Can I at least assume that you know who took it?"

**"_Yeah I didn't know it at first but I'm positive that Ares has your helm." _**Adamos said and the area around Hades began to darken and the shadows writhed around. _**"He was also the one who gave us the Masterbolt. However, we are fairly certain that the on who initially stole the two items was Luke Castellan, a son of Hermes at Camp Half-Blood."** _

Hades snarled. "When I get my hands on those two, I shall over see their trips to the Fields of Punishment myself."

**"_Easy Uncle." _**Adamos places a hand on Hades shoulder but it does little to calm the king of the Underworld. **_"With the Crooked one rising we will need Ares, as moronic as he is, in the upcoming battle. As for Castellan it's a 99% match to the thief. We just need Ares to confirm. After that if you catch him go nuts." _**Adamos speaks and slowly the light begins to return to the room.

"Fine." Hades grumbles. "We've set up our allegiance, the boy's mother will be in my care, is there anything else that we need to do?" Hades questions.

Adamos rubbed his chin and then snapped his fingers. **_"I need one of the most beautiful flowers from Persephone's garden, a pomegranate as well, annnddd two diamonds that are four inches in diameter each." _** Adamos listed of and with a wave of his hand Hades conjured each of the listed items.

"Might I ask what you plan to do with these?" Hades asked with a raised brow.

**"_The best way to sway a god is to a) play to their egos or b) bribe them with meaningless gifts." _**Adamos says as he picks up the two diamonds and reaches into the backpack and pulls out two crowns, measures the sizes and places the two gems in the empty slots. He them puts them and the other items back into the bag as well as the Masterbolt.

"What are we supposed to do about them?" I ask, pointing my ghostly hand at Annabeth and Grover, who were still unconscious on the ground.

**"**_**If I punched the satyr and gave him a black eye, would you tell him he got it fighting a skeleton?"** _

"No." I say in a flat tone.

Adamos pouts. **_"Then I guess we'll just have to rewrite their memories." _**Adamos then waves his hand over them and the air distorts around my two friends before settling.

"Ok how are you able to do all of that?" I ask.

**"**_**All of what?"** _

"The magic, the barriers and mind wiping and stuff. How can you do that without chanting?"

**"_Well some of it is just manipulating the mist and doesn't need a chant and the others are because I'm just so good that I don't need any chants or other things. I'm not the god of sorcery for nothing you know. Also speaking of magic… Hey Uncle." _**Adamos turns back to Hades. **_"How's my sister doing?"_**

"She has been well. She and Persephone see each other quite often to chat. But I must say that after your banishment she has been quite reclusive. She often avoids the other gods on Olympus unless it is necessary to meet." Hades says.

Adamos lets out a small sigh. **_"Oh Cate." _**Adamos shakes his head for a moment. He then taps his spear on the magic circle that I'm standing on and I feel my ghost body being pulled back into my regular body.

"Well then Nephew." Hades says. "I wish you luck."

**"_Thank you, Uncle." _**Adamos says and turns the spear back into a bracelet and then relinquishes control to me.

I shake my body around, getting a feel once again. "Jackson." Hades said in an emotionless tone, drawing my attention. "You had better be prepared for what's to come."

"What do you mean Uncle?" I ask. Hades's eyes narrow at my use of Uncle. "I mean Lord Hades."

Hades looks up towards the cavern ceiling. "Ares will most likely not be too pleased with you and your companions leaving my realm with the bolt as well as your lives."

"So, he's up their waiting for us?" I say as more of a statement than a question.

"I do not wish to see you in my domain so soon Perseus Jackson, not with out my Helm of Darkness at least." Hades warns. "Now go." Hades then turns and walks off, shadows warping around his form before disappearing, him along with them.

"So, do you have a plan for dealing with our favorite war god?" I say sarcastically.

**"I have a few ideas in mind."** Adamos said.** "But first we need to get out of here. I suggest the pearls."**

I walked over to Grover and Annabeth and reached into their pockets and pulled out their pearls. "What did she say about these? To step on them? How are they supposed to step on them if they are unconscious?" I asked.

**"I think just throwing them hard enough to break the pearls near their bodies will be enough."** Adamos said.

I shrugged because I didn't have any better idea's and after putting some space between them, because I had no idea what was going to happen, I threw the pearls near their bodies.

The pearls shattered but nothing happened. "Are you sure these actually do—" I say before a milky white orb forms around Grover and Annabeth. The spheres then propel upwards at high speeds.

"Are you sure they'll be safe?" I ask Adamos.

**"You're about to do the exact same thing as them, and I wouldn't put you in mortal danger."**

"I guess not." I said not entirely sure.

**"Wow way to have faith."** Adamos said dryly.

"Lets just get this over with." I mumble and drop a pearl at my feet and crush it. Soon a milky white bubble forms around me, and I rocket upward after my friends.

**A/N: What's up yall. Momentei here. This chapter came out sooner than normal because with winter break her I've had more free time. I totally thought that the meeting with Hades was a good way to show Adamos's relationship with his other family members. Any ways I was wondering if I should give Percy a secondary weapon and would like some suggestions. For any of you who are thinking that the Spear of Ruin is a secondary weapon I just want to say that it's not. It will always be Adamos's weapon and in the story its as iconic and memberable to the gods as any of the Big Three's symbols of power, so any god that see's it's true form will recognize it. I need something else to give Percy and I want your suggestions. Leave a suggestion in the reviews or just PM me. All right I think that that's all for now. Please leave a review and some constructive criticism so I can make this story better.**

**See you later all you Sexy Beasts,**

**Momentei**


	18. Chapter 17:The Warring Seas

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

**_Adamos talking_**

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 17**

**The Warring Seas**

A few months ago, if anyone had told me that I was going to walk through the Underworld, talk with my uncle who is the lord of the dead and then leave via magic pearl, I would have walked away from them as fast as I could. But apparently that was my life now as I rode the magical pearl out of the Underworld and to who knows where. It wasn't the most comfortable ride as I went through layers of earth. Darkness was all around me before light seemed to flood the sphere. It forced me to blink away the brightness and when I was finally able to open them again, I saw that we had broken through the ocean floor. Up above me I saw two spheres burst at the surface, and two bodies appeared floating on the waves.

My sphere rocketed upwards until it exploded as soon as it hit the air. The blast was enough to blow some surfer off his board and into the water, but i didn't pay him any mind. I looked around to see where we were to find that I was in the middle of Santa Monica Bay. I looked at the sky and knew that it was June 20th, by the sun that was now coming over the horizon. We had spent an entire night in the Underworld.

"Percy!" I heard from behind me, making me turn. Behind me, Annabeth and Grover were treading water a couple a few meters away from me.

"What happened? How did we end up in the ocean?" Annabeth asked as she looked around.

"Yeah. Weren't we just in the Underworld?" Grove added.

Both of then looked at me expectantly as I was the last one to arrive. "You guys don't remember what happened?" I asked trying to play dumb. They both shook their heads no, and it was the response that I was hoping for.

"We should probably head to shore. It would be better than a drowning out here." I said, hoping to extend the time so that I could come up with a story. Both of them agreed as drowning didn't seem like a fun idea at the moment.

As we swam to the shore, I did use a bit of my powers to help them along, well mostly Grover because swimming with hooves seemed hard for him.

"_So, what am I supposed to say to them?"_

**"Make something up. Improve is kinda your thing now. Maybe you should join an improv group?"** Adamos mused that last part.

"_But I don't know what they remember."_

**"I think its before we actually started talking to Uncle Hades."**

"_You know I never asked but is wiping their memories going to hurt them in any way."_

**"I don't think so?"** Adamos said but it sounded unsure.

"_Well will it hurt them or not?" _I pressed.

**"Probably not. I mean I never really had to wipe some one's mind so many times in such a short amount of time. The only side effects that I can think of will be some forgetfulness over the next couple weeks."** I feel Adamos shrug.

"_I really hope they don't find out about this." _I mentally groan.

**"You know you're coming up to the shore and you really should be thinking of a cover story."** Adamos interjects.

"_Oh, gods damn it."_

**"Relax I always say you'll be fine, and you usually are, but just remember the best lies are the ones with a bit of the truth mixed in."** Adamos says trying to console me.

At that point the tree of us had made it to the shore and were climbing out of the ocean. I then gave Grover my shoes as he lost his in the Underworld. Best not to chance anyone seeing his hooves.

"All right Percy. You remember what happened." Annabeth asked.

I was still trying to get a story together but at that point I just followed Adamos's advice and decided on a half-truth.

"We made it to Lord Hades palace," They nodded along. "But when we went in he didn't have the bolt, but he said that we did." At this their faces became confused.

"Wait if he doesn't have the bolt than why would we have it?" Grover asked.

I internally grimace. This was the point where I hoped that they trusted me. "Because we do." I said and I slid my back pack off and opened it, showing them the bolt. They gasped at the object as it glowed within its confines. "But I didn't steal it." I quickly said, cutting them off before they could say anything. "Hades also said that his helm was missing."

"The helm is missing!" They both all but shouted. I flinched from the volume.

"Yeah like I was saying he said that the helm was missing, and then demanded we hand over the bolt, but we never had it. And I don't know about you but this thing but screams power." I said, since the bolt was making the hair on my arms raise due to closeness.

"Then who could have taken it?" Grover asked.

"The one person in this entire quest who helped us." I said.

Annabeth let out a gasp in realization as the answer seemed to hit her. "Ares."

I just nod at her realization.

"He was the only one to help us and gave us the backpack. Maybe he has a connection to the thief. Someone stole the bolt and the helm and framed you as Poseidon's son and with him with the only symbol of power it would start a three-way war as they start pointing fingers. Which in turn benefits Ares and…" She starts vomiting words as she comes up with theories and other things.

I snap a few times in front of Annabeth's face to get her attention. "What?"

"You were mumbling." I said. She blushes at that. "And besides," I turn to look over my shoulder. "We've got company." My eyes narrow on the figure in the distance.

There he was, in his black leather duster and sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motor cycle rumbled behind him, the headlights glaring a bright red. "Hey kid." He said with a wide grin on his face. "you were supposed to die."

"You used us." I said. "You and the thief stole the bolt."

Ares smile broke into a smirk. "Now, now, I had nothing to do with the whole stealing bit. Gods taking each other's symbols of power—that's a big no. I just held on to the bolt and helm. Took them for safe keeping until you came along."

**"Is he actually monologuing?"** Adamos asked.

"_I…think he is."_ I thought.

"But now it seems that you couldn't even do the simple task of dying in the Underworld. Now you're just impeding the war effort and I can't have that. Once ole Barnacle beard finds out that you died in the Underworld, then he will be mad at Hades for killing you. And once Corpse Breath has the Masterbolt than Zeus'll be mad at him."

"And with the helm missing than Hades will be dragged into the conflict." I said. "And am I right in thinking that you have the Helm of Darkness as well."

"Huh," Ares reached into the pocket and pulled out a ski cap and placed it on one of the handle bars of his bike. The cap turned into a bronze war helmet that seemed to suck the light out of the space around it. "Seems as if you actually have some smarts punk."

"The Helm of Darkness." Grover gasped.

"Exactly," Ares said. "And with this it will just be a three-way slug fest of the gods." Ares grin grew wider as he spoke.

"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested.

Ares shrugged. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching relatives fight, I always say."

"But if you wanted to start a war, why give the bolt to Hades? Why not keep it for yourself?" I ask. "The other gods would never have known you had it."

Ares jaw twitched. For a moment it he had a far away look to him, like he was listening to someone else in his head. I was kind hoping that I didn't look like that when Adamos talked to me.

"Why didn't I…yeah…with that kind of fire power…" Ares said dreamily. He held this trance for a few seconds.

I exchanged a glance with Annabeth. Neither of us seemed comfortable with the god in front of us.

Ares face then clears. "I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught red handed, holding the evidence."

**"Somethings off with him."** Adamos says.

Internally I agree. "You're lying," I say. "Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't your idea, was it?"

"Of course, it was!" Ares yelled, smoke emitted from his sun glasses.

"You're not the one to come up with the idea. You're just a lackey like the thief, only some a glorified delivery boy to hand off the bolt to me. Just another servant following orders." I said.

"I am the god of war! I take orders from no one!" Ares roared. "I don't have dreams!"

I hesitated but I felt Adamos focus on that one line. "Who said anything about dreams?"

Ares looked like he was completely on edge, but he tried to hide it with a smirk. "Lets get back to the problem at hand kid. You're alive and I can't let you bring that bolt back to Olympus. You might just get those hard-headed fools to listen to you. So, I've got to kill you. Nothing personal."

"_What are the odds of us escaping him?" _I ask Adamos.

**"Ares is still a god even if he is being manipulated. Even if he's bound by ancient laws, there are always loopholes to exploit."** Adamos says seriously.

As if just to prove a point, Ares snapped his fingers and the sand exploded in front of him. A massive wild boar crawled out and pawed the sand. This thing was glaring at me with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.

I moved away from Grover and Annabeth and the boar's gaze followed me and on instinct I stepped back into the surf. "What? Can't fight me yourself?" I mocked, hoping that no one could see my nervousness.

Ares let out a laugh at my attempt at mocking but there was a tone of unease to it. "Please, all you are is a bunch of cheap tricks and gimmicks. You stabbed Medusa in the back and used some necklace to beat the chimera. You never actually beat them yourself. You just don't have what it takes."

"You scared?"

"In your dreams punk." Ares said but I could see his sunglasses start to melt. "No direct involvement. Face it kid, you're not on my level."

"Percy, run!" Annabeth shouted.

The massive boar charged, and I took out Riptide. As the boar was about to gore me, I quickly sidestepped and swung upwards. The boar squealed as its right tusk fell to the sand, at my feet. In its pained panic the boar kept charging until it ran straight into the sea.

I raised my hand towards the water and felt a pull in my gut. A wave surged from the water and engulfed the boar. It let out squeals of terror as it was dragged out to sea by the water until it disappeared beneath the water.

I turned back to Ares, my confidence was a bit higher. "You going to fight me now?" I asked. "Or are you going to hide behind another pet?"

Ares face turned purple with rage. "Watch it, kid. I could turn you into—"

"A cockroach," I interrupted. "Or a rat, or a worm. Yeah, I'm sure. That'd save you from getting your godly but whooped, wouldn't it?" If Adamos said that I couldn't escape from him than the only possible action left would be to beat him… somehow.

Flames burst from behind the sunglasses. "Oh, man, you are really asking for a beating, aren't you punk?"

**"Are you sure you're prepared for this?"** Adamos asked. His voice didn't show his concern for the most part but there were still some traces of it. Overall it was more like a coach asking if their player was prepared to go onto the field.

"_Not really, but this was going to happen, well either this or we all get turned into mice."_ I responded.

Internally I felt Adamos nod in confirmation. **"This is your fight Percy. I can't do it for you, or Ares might notice somethings amiss. Hard to explain how a twelve-year-old novice swordsman out skilled a god of war."** Adamos chuckled. **"Other than advice and some strengthening you're on your own."**

"_Alright." _I reluctantly acknowledge. _"Anything else that I need to know to win?"_

**"Hmm. Ares is a god of war."** Adamos explains. **"But he represents destructive war. He is skilled but he relies on brute force rather than actual tactics. Also, even though you're challenging him he has to limit what he can do due to ancient laws. In other words, try not to take a direct hit or block. Focus on evasion and you should survive."**

"_Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge. Got it."_

I focus on Ares once more. "If I lose you can turn me into anything you want. But if I win, I get the helm and the bolt, and you have to leave." I challenged.

Ares's face turned into a sneer. He swung the baseball bat that he had on his shoulder. "How you wanna die: Classic or Modern?"

I just twirled Riptide in my hand.

"Classic it is then." He said, and then the baseball bat began to morph. It changed until it turned into a two-handed sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth. His weapon was easily larger than Riptide was by a good foot.

"Percy." Annabeth pleaded. "Don't do this. He's a god."

"I don't have a choice." I told her.

She swallowed. Wear this, at least for luck." She took off her beaded necklace with the ring on it and tied it around my neck.

My face felt a bit warm at how close she was when she tied it around my neck, but I smiled at her once she was finished. "Thanks."

"And take this." Grover said. He handed me a flattened tin can that he'd probably been carrying for who knows how long. "The satyrs stand behind you."

"Grover… I don't know what to say." I said, because I really didn't know what to say. I mean, the sentiment was there but it was just a tin can. I was kinda hoping that it wouldn't stab me through my pockets as I slid it into my back one. I felt Adamos scoff at Grover's gift.

"You all done saying goodbye?" Ares said as he walked over, his sword glinting menacingly, and the ruby seemed to glow like fire in the sunlight. "I've been fighting for eternity kid. My strength is unlimited, and I can't die. What have you got?"

**"A kick ass god that's been fighting since before you've been born."** Adamos directed at Ares, but since he was in my head only, I could hear him.

I however said nothing as I stayed in the surf, the water was at my ankles. I grabbed the backpack that I had always been wearing and threw it onto the beach. It would only weigh me down in the fight.

"QUEN." I muttered, feeling a slight pull and the flare of the protection spell cover me. Ares just smirked at the spell, as if it didn't bother him at all.

Ares got close enough and swung downwards with his sword.

I felt Adamos flood me with power and combined with the water I felt much more powerful. I watched as Ares's attack came down and the water seemed to help move me along as I side stepped and launched a counter slash at him. But Ares was a lot faster than I had thought he would be and brought his sword up with one hand and deflected the attack. The force was enough to make me take a few steps back.

"Not bad, not bad." He said with a grin on his face. He gave a one-handed slash and I raised my sword to block it, but an image of my bones breaking in the attempt filled my mind. So I gave up on that idea and ducked out of the way of the slash. Nut in the process I had jumped out of the water and felt my strength start to fade.

I tried to sidestep and make my way back to the ocean but with each attempt Ares got in my way and I was forced to back further into dry land.

Ares then began to press this advantage and was swiping his sword at me. I was barely hanging on; my concentration was fully on avoiding Ares's sword, so I didn't have a moment to spare to plan with Adamos. Then I felt the same sensations as when I was sparing with Luke and I knew that Adamos was using his war domains to lessen the skill gap at least a bit.

Then Ares thrust his sword and using Riptide I redirected the blade and got closer to him. I remembered being told by Luke and Adamos that when using a smaller weapon that you needed to get closer to your opponents. But as I got closer, I saw Ares smirk as I got ready to attack.

It was then that I realized that it was actually a feint. I was already in the motion of a slash with Riptide, but Ares let go of his sword with one of his hands and used it to grab me by the shirt. He violently tugged me forward. The next thing I knew was a sound like crashing glass and the feel of his massive boot on my chest.

I was immediately airborne, flying who knows how many feet before landing in a sand dune. Adamos's earth blessing made the impact much softer. I managed to cling onto Riptide during the entire time.

I heard Annabeth yelling something, but I couldn't hear her over the blood pounding in my ears. I focused on Ares as he casually walked over.

I struggled to get to my feet, my chest was burning life fire from that kick, as it seemed to go straight through the spell shield. I didn't want to imagine what would have been like if I took it head on. Then the pain began to soothe away as warmth filled the injured areas, meaning that Adamos was working on healing me.

The pounding in my ears was now fading away and my senses were working overtime. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Annabeth and Grover. I could see Ares taking his time as he menacingly walked to me with a murderous grin. I could hear the sound of sirens in the distance and then someone shouting over a speaker.

"—the guns. Put them on the ground. Now!"

Wait guns?

I quickly looked over to see what it was when I saw Ares look to the city. There were a half a dozen police cars lined up at the edge of the beach. A line of officers were behind their cars, weapons trained on us.

Ares let out a growl. "This is a private matter! Begone!" Then with a sweep of his hand a wall of flames rolled across the patrol cars, causing them to explode, and the officers to scatter away screaming.

While all of this was happening, I finally had a moment to talk with Adamos. _"Do you have any ideas? Cause I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."_ I said mentally as I heard my labored breath in my ears.

**"An out right fight will get you know where. You need something to even the odds."**

Even the odds, he said. I can't beat Ares with my skills alone even with Adamos's blessings. I'm to far away from the water for it to work. I can try to use the earth, but this is sand, any solid ground is to far below for me to use. So, that leaves…That's it! Out of the corner of my eye I see exactly what I need that I could help. I run the plan by Adamos to see if that could work, and if he was out here the grin, he had on would only be described as devilish as he modifies the plan for a better chance at success.

I fully stand up and grip my sword using it as a crutch. I shield myself once again and feel a slight bit of exhaustion from the casting.

"All right punk." Ares said. "Let's see if we can add you to the barbecue."

"How about no." I said and then I flicked the tip of Riptide up, spraying sand in Ares's face.

"Grah!" Ares shouted as the sand got into his eyes. He used one of his hands to try to rub it out. I took this opportunity to run past him as fast as I could. I felt an alarm go of in my head and I dive forward into a roll before breaking off into a sprint. A split second earlier and my head would be rolling on the sand as Ares swung his sword where I once was.

"You little bastard!" Ares roared. "I'll kill you slowly, you corpse breath worm!" Maybe the insults are genetic.

I sprinted as fast as I can, using powers over the earth to help move me forward, the pull in my gut increasing. I could feel the ground rumbling beneath me and through it I felt what must have been Ares steadily gaining on me. He was faster as I felt him gain on me. Twenty meters. Fifteen. Ten.

As he got closer, I dug deeper and the pull on my gut worsened, almost enough to make me stumble. The ground beneath us began to rumble violently before it erupts. The sand bursts upwards in a massive explosion, catching Ares in the center of the explosion.

I dove forward and tackled my back pack into a roll and came to a stop with it cradled to my chest. I looked back and saw that the sand was in Ares eyes, mouth, and probably many other uncomfortable places as he tried to remove the uncomfortable grains.

Using the few seconds I had I dug around in the backpack desperately trying to find what I was looking for. I then extended my reach and felt the earth beneath me shifting. It took everything that I had to hold it down, but I felt the tension build up.

"Stop running and fight me you co—" Was all that Ares roared before I let the earth erupt in full force. This one being larger than the others almost like a volcano exploding with sand instead of lava.

My vision was starting to get a little fuzzy and I knew that that was the last time I would be able to do that. With the back pack in hand I ran forward as the sand still floated in the air like a smoke screen. I could sense Ares in the center but I highly doubted that he was hurt, but rather a bit disoriented.

I ran straight into the sand smoke screen straight towards Ares and swung Riptide. Although despite his lack of sight and disorientation he still managed to block my attack and give his own, albeit a bit clumsily, counter attack. The force from the blow being so strong that it only launched up more sand.

"Where are you!" Ares yelled as he tried to wipe the sand out of his eyes. I tried another attack at his backside, only to meet the same result as last time.

I side stepped to avoid the wild swing and barely manage to get out of the way as the tip of his sword grazes my arm. This makes me step back as I try to keep moving to throw of where I was, but the sand begins to fall, and my window was closing.

Without hesitation I reach into the backpack and throw something directly at Ares. His anger and blindness cause him to lash out as soon as he senses something coming closer to him. With a powerful slash he cleaves what I threw in half.

"Finally decided to man up did you." Ares rubbed the sand out of his eyes as the sand settles. "But too bad you never—" Ares said before he finally wiped the sand from his eyes. His sentence stopped short however once he finally got a good look at what it was that he sliced apart. Strewn around him were sand covered Oreos, shredded clothes and the remains of a backpack. More specifically the back pack that he handed to us at the dinner.

"You know," I say as I poke Ares in the back, the air begins to hum. "This is usually the time when I'm supposed to say a one liner. But I think that this speaks for itself." I say with a smirk as I felt indescribable amounts of power in my grasp.

Ares slowly turns and his eyes widen in fear and recognition, but its to late as he realizes what's in my hand.

BOOOM!

Ares takes the full blast in the chest, being too late to block the attack and is rocketed forward, digging a massive trench along the beach. The Masterbolt sparks with power in my hand as I hold Riptide in my other hand. Electricity arcs off the divine weapon, turning bits of sand around me to molten slag.

My hand trembles as I hold the bolt, sharp spikes of pain jolt up my arm, like bits of skin being peeled from the tips of my fingers. I grimace at the pain, but I don't take my eyes off of Ares as he groans in the trench that his body carved. I half walk, half trudge over to where he was lying in the sand. His shirt was mostly burned off leaving his chest bare to see, except for the massive burn mark in the middle of his chest. Ichor oozed from his sternum and different parts of his body, staining parts of his clothes. His body twitches and his breathing's ragged and uneven as I hear him muttering curses in ancient Greek.

"Y-you worthl-less p-punk." He growls out as his body convulses. He struggles to raise his hand towards me. I switch the Masterbolt to my other hand as I didn't know if my arm could take a second use. I aim it right at Ares.

Then something sent a chill up my spine, but I wasn't the only one as Ares also stopped in his tracks. Everything seemed to fade from the world, all sound and color. A cold weight seemed to press down on the beach. Time seemed to slow down, and the temperature dropped. I began to feel worthless, like fighting was pointless. Internally I felt Adamos freeze and anxiety pour from his being.

Then as soon as it arrived the darkness lifted.

"_Wha—what the hell was that!?" _I frantically look around. Ares looked stunned in front of me.

**"His influence is stronger than I thought.**" Adamos said through grit teeth.

"_Who?"_

**"The Crooked one."**

The rustling in the sand in front of me brought my attention back to the injured war god lting in the beach in front of me.

Blood flowed from Ares's mouth as he spoke. "I'll kill you, you worthless godling." He growled. "Every time you raise your blade in battle, you—" Ares spoke but I felt Adamos shove me out of the control seat.

A low amount of electricity surrounded Ares as he was shocked. He let out a grunt of pain before fully collapsing onto the sand.

**"_If you think I'm just gonna let you curse me…you've got another thing coming." _**Adamos said with a challenging glare, the Masterbolt began to glow in front of Ares face.** _"Swear on the River Styx that you won't seek some form of revenge for this defeat."_**

Ares just glared back, his eyes burned like an inferno. Adamos just gave a cold glare that looked like it could freeze hell over.

"I swear on the Styx," Ares said with barely contained anger. "That I won't seek retribution on you."

**"_Good. Now get out of here." _**Adamos said lowering the Masterbolt.

Ares body then began to glow.

"Percy!" Annabeth shouted. "Don't look!"

Adamos turned away with closed eyes, I instinctively felt like if he had looked directly at Ares than I would have died.

Soon the light died away and Adamos looked back. Ares was gone and in his place was a celestial bronze war helmet. I felt Adamos give up control.

**"Sorry, but us gods can be a bit petty if we lose. Had to stop him before he did something bad."**

"_Its fine. It doesn't seem like it'll bite us in the ass."_ I mentally said as I walked over and picked up the Helm of Darkness. The helmet felt cold in my hands and seemed to emit an aura that made me feel a bit weak. It was the complete opposite of the Masterbolt, which heat and power.

As I was about to head over to my friends I heard the sound of leathery wings beating and looked up. Up above was Mrs. Dodds and the other furies. A sudden nervousness went through my body. Despite Hades being my ally now, it still unsettled me seeing the Furies.

The three demon hags drifted down and landed in front of me.

"We witnessed the entire thing." The middle fury said as she stepped forward, I could only assume that it was Mrs. Dodds.

"Give this back to Lord Hades." I said and I tossed them the helm.

She only nodded before the three of them dissolved into shadows and disappeared.

Annabeth and Grover jogged over to me after the Furies disappeared. Their faces showed a mixture of disbelief and amazement.

"Percy…" Grover said. "That was so incredibly…"

"Terrifying," said Annabeth.

"Cool!" Grover corrected. "When you made the ground explode, and, and, when you used the Masterbolt on him." Grover exclaimed while doing combat motions.

I chuckled at his antics, but my chest was still a bit sore, even with Adamos healing me. I didn't feel as terrified as Annabeth was, maybe a little cool, but what I did feel was tired and sore all over.

I turned to my friends in all seriousness. "Did you guys feel that pressure."

They both nodded uneasily.

"It must have been the Furies." Grover supplied, but I knew even he didn't believe himself.

This feeling was one I only felt in my dreams. When the voice tried to coerce me into the pit. I looked at Annabeth and she uneasily nodded, a silent message that what happened wasn't because of the Furies.

I walked over to where I dropped my backpack and slid the Masterbolt inside. As soon as it left my hand, the air no longer felt electrified with power. The pain slight pain in my arm finally began to subside. That much power was enough for me to take down Ares, no wonder Zeus went crazy once this thing was missing. And yet it felt like it wasn't even using its full power.

"We need to get to New York." I said. "As soon as possible."

"But how?" Annabeth said. "The only way to get back in time would be to…"

"Fly," I finished her sentence for her.

She stared at me. "Fly, like in an airplane, which you were warned to never do or else Zeus would strike you out of the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more power than a nuclear bomb?"

I thought about it and I didn't want to go back down to the Underworld to ask Hades for a lift, I doubted he would oblige even if we were allies now. A train would take to long, much less a car. That just left flying and I had to hope that Zeus treasured his Masterbolt enough not to blast me out of the sky if I had it with me.

I let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah but its not like we got much choice. Come on."

**A/N: Ahoy all you sexy beasts. This is Momentei. Damn I've been going over this in my head for a while on how the fight should go and I think I'm satisfied with the result. Any way I want to give a thanks to Frostboi88 for helping me and PM'ing me with ideas on the story. Anyways have a happy holidays every one.**

**Momentei, over and out.**


	19. Chapter 18:Working The Room

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 18**

**Working the Room**

It didn't take long after the battle with Ares before the police and media swarmed the three of us. We were bombarded with so many questions that some of the officer's present had to push the reporters away so that the ambulances that arrived could look us over. The entire time I was a bit worried about the paramedics lifting up Grover's pants and finding out about his legs, but Adamos kept reassuring me that the mist would hide his legs. It helped my nerves, but I still felt a bit of worry. But it seems that the mist is much more powerful than I actually thought because after the paramedics were done looking us over, I managed to over hear from one of the news outlets as they were covering our story.

"That's right Michael." A female reporter began speaking. "On the Santa Monica beach, a major conflict broke out. It seems as if the young adolescent known as Percy Jackson, as well as two others, were seen at the beach as the young Mr. Jackson was reported to be fighting off a suspicious individual in melee combat while using, what we believe was a crowbar that he managed to procure. The one known as Percy Jackson has been the focus much coverage recently as the lead suspect in a string of disasters across the country. However now many are claiming that the man that Mr. Jackson was fighting of was also present during these events. One woman in Denver has even stepped forward with physical evidence of the suspected adult threatening the group of children outside of her workplace. It seems as if we have now found our real culprit all along while Mr. Jackson and his two associates are merely the victims of this story. This is Miranda Farmand going back to you."

I could barely hold back the smile that was threatening to split my face. The mist had basically cleared me of all the crimes and pinned them on Ares. In the back of my mind, Adamos was laughing in hysterics at the outcome.

It wasn't long after that the reporters were allowed to finally interview us. They told all of us what I heard, only reaffirming the story. Annabeth and Grover caught on pretty quick too as the were nodding and sniffling, playing the victims on camera. Although I think that I had a much better performance than them.

"All I want," I said as my eyes watered with fake tears, "is to see my loving stepfather again. Every time that I saw him on TV, I knew we would be okay. And I know that he'll want to reward each and every person that helped in this endeavor with a free appliance from his store. Here's the phone number." Needless to say, Adamos was laughing even harder after that, and I nearly started myself.

The reporters and police however ate it up as they passed a hat around to pay for three tickets back to New York.

I knew that flying was the best way for us to return on time, and Adamos said that Zeus wouldn't dare to damage his Masterbolt while we were returning it but that didn't stop me from tearing the seat cushion a little as the plane took off.

"**Come on flying is not that bad."** I felt Adamos rolling his eyes at me.

"_Yeah well to me this just feels wrong. People weren't meant to be in the air, if they were, we would be born with wings." _I shot back at him.

Adamos gave out a huff. **"You think I didn't try to give you guys wings? I tried to get Prometheus to put animal traits on some humans, but he wasn't having it. That guy has one of those stuck up artist mentalities. I mean if satyrs can look like that why not make different kinds of humans."**

"_You actually tried?" _I asked incredulously.

I could feel Adamos pouting at my question. **"Damn straight I did. Imagine people with wings or tails and animal ears, or horns and claws walking around like normal. I already know that Japan's onboard, and about 20% of the US population would love it."**

I had to bite back a groan and the urge to face palm. I really wanted to change the subject as I didn't want to delve to far into this topic. I mean the Greek monsters were already animalistic enough, but I didn't want to think about the confusion that would follow if Adamos had his way.

"_Just…whatever. Can you at least tell me what Olympus is like?"_ I asked trying to steer the conversation into different territory, as well as have something to focus on other than my nerves at flying. I can't believe that I listened to Annabeth and sat in the window seat, because she thought that it would help like with people with motion sickness and cars.

"**Olympus, huh?" **Adamos mused. **"Its…probably still one of the most amazing places I have seen. Easily on par with Asgard or the Heavenly Realms in Asia. The mountain itself seems to glow like an aurora borealis at night. And the gardens that are everywhere are so meticulously done that it looks like time has stopped at just the right moment. But I'm looking forward to seeing everyone even more."** Adamos spoke as his voice became softer and fonder with each word. The feeling of nostalgia washed over me like a gentle wave, and I felt my nerves ease at the feeling. The calm settled over me and soon I felt the day catching up with me. Traversing the underworld, confronting Hades, fighting Ares, and getting on the plane. My eyes felt heavy as Adamos continued to talk and soon I found myself asleep.

**Line Break**

Happiness. If there is one way to describe the dream that I'm having it would be that. Everything around me was just grasslands overlook a cove, with a few sparse tropical trees here and there. It wasn't as exotic and tropical as the island that Adamos lives on but there was an overwhelming difference

This place just seemed so alive. The grass was a vibrant green and the water sparkled under the sun. The sound of birds chirping in harmony only completed the serene feeling.

"Is there a reason that you called me out here." A feminine voice said. Her tone seemed stiff as she spoke.

"Ahh come on. Do I really need a reason to want to spend time with you?" A very cheerful voice sounded out. I recognized this as Adamos as I had gotten better at recognizing him. He was standing a small way away from where I was, a basket in his hand as he talked to a beautiful looking dark-haired woman, her features were far more elegant than I had ever seen on any normal woman and she seemed to radiate a pressure so I assumed that she was a goddess. She was wearing a flowing chiton under a leather breastplate, and she carried a Greek hoplite helmet under one of her arms. Her eyes were a startlingly familiar grey, like cold steel, that stared with an intensity that seemed to make me squirm instinctively. Adamos didn't seemed to be affected at all from her stare, in fact he seemed to smile even wider as her gaze sharpened.

"It would be best if you gave an adequate reason for being here so as not to waste either of our time." She said in a neutral tone.

"But every single moment with you is never a waste." Adamos responded in a dramatic way as he held his hand over his heart in the sincerest way he could.

This however did nothing to impress the woman as she gave him an impassive stare. The silence seemed hang between the two. It was so quiet I could even hear a slight breeze roll through. The tenseness broke though when the woman let out a soft laugh.

"By Chaos, that was horrible, even for you." She said as a small smile graced her features. It was like a switch had been flipped and all of the intensity that her gaze carried was replaced with a warm gaze.

Adamos let out a huff as he seemed to relax. "I know, I know. But that doesn't change the fact that I made lunch for us to enjoy." Adamos said holding up the basket. The woman only gave him a raised brow in disbelief. "OK fine." Adamos broke down under her stare. "Hestia made most of it, but I did help." Adamos said adamantly.

"Well at least I'll know which part you made by whatever is inedible." She playfully says as he walks past him and towards the cove.

"I will have you know that I am fully capable as a cook." Adamos pouts as he follows after her.

"Please. The only cooking that you know how to do is roasting something over a fire." She retorts.

"That's still a form of cooking." Adamos says with pride.

I continue to watch as they sit down and begin to eat the food from the basket. Occasionally Adamos would say something that amuses her, or she would pull out a scroll or paper and show it to him. The entire thing seemed peaceful as they enjoyed each other's company. I had to admit that it was pleasant scene to watch.

Adamos then looked up at the sky and let out a soft sigh and stood up. "The stars are starting to appear. We're going to have to end it here." The way he spoke made him sound disappointed.

"We might as well." The woman said as her face shifted back into a neutral mask as she followed his example. "The food was quite good… even the part you tried to make."

"Yeah well I'll just have to get better for the nex—" Adamos spoke before stopping. He shifted himself and looked past the woman to further down the beach.

The woman turned to see what he was looking at. "What are you looking for." She asks as she turns back to face Adamos. "There is no one over the—" She was immediately cut off as she spoke when Adamos kissed her full on the lips. Her eyes widen at the sudden kiss but just as soon as it happened, Adamos pulled away.

Her expression set into one of anger as she attempted to swipe at him, only for Adamos to step out of her reach with a cheeky grin on his face and his laughter sounding out, before he disappeared in a flash of light.

The woman stood alone on the beach for a few moments more. Her furious expression faded as she was only left with a large blush. "Gods he's such a jerk." She said but the smile she had told a different story. Then like Adamos, she disappeared in a flash of light.

Then like that everything began to fade away.

**Line Break**

I began to open my eyes as I felt someone shaking my shoulder. With bleary eyes I look over to see that Annabeth was shaking me awake.

"Waa?" I moaned out as I slowly woke up.

"We landed in La Guardia." She said. "They are getting ready to let all the passengers exit."

"Oh," I said as I moved to stretch in what little space the seat provided me. I let out a small sigh. "Thank the gods we're on the ground."

"Oh, come on its not that bad." Annabeth said with an eye roll. "You were asleep for the whole flight."

"That doesn't change the fact that I would have been shot down immediately if I didn't have the bolt." I said as I felt a shiver go down my spine at the thought.

After that it didn't take very long until we were allowed off the plane. However, we almost ran into a problem when a bunch of reporters were swarming the baggage area in order to get an interview, but with some of Annabeth's quick thinking we managed to escape from them. After that I decided it was best for us to split up at the taxi stand and asked for them to return to camp while I went to Olympus. Of course, they refused and wanted to go with me, but I rebutted that it would be better if they returned to camp in case something goes wrong on Olympus. They still didn't let up until Adamos snapped my fingers in front of their faces and their eyes glazed over as they stepped into a cab without complaint and drove off. I asked what he did, but he only said that it was just something to make them go along with what we wanted.

As the cab got closer to the Empire State Building, I thought back to the dream. I could still feel the traces of happiness at returning for him, and him talking about his family, also I do remember him saying that he was married to someone when we were down in the Underworld, but I can't remember who he was talking about on account of Lord Hades trying to wipe us from existence.

After about a half hour passed before the cab stopped and I walked into the lobby of the Empire State Building. The room was mostly empty, the sole exception being a rather bored looking guard sitting at the front desk reading a book with a wizard on the cover.

I walked up to the guard at the front desk and said, "Six hundredth floor."

The guard was quiet for one moment, two, three, six, twelve moments, I was starting to get a little annoyed. I struggled to maintain a pleasant face as he lazily looked up from his book. "No such floor kid."

"I need an audience with Zeus."

"Sorry?" He said, but his smile seemed empty.

"I need an audience with Zeus." I said in a tense tone.

"No appointment, no audience kiddo. The Olympians are having the solstice meeting right now." The guard said blandly.

"**This guy is really starting to irritate me."**

"_That makes two of us."_

"I think they'll understand." I said as I slid my backpack off my shoulders and unzipped it.

The guard leaned over and looked inside the bag as I reached in. His face morphed into a nervous look as I pulled out a cylinder of celestial bronze and the air hummed in response. "That isn't…"

"Yes, it is." I said. "But if they are too busy…"

"No! No!" He scrambled out of his seat and began to rifle through a bunch of drawers until he found a golden card and gave it to me. "Insert this into the security slot, and make sure that no one is inside with you when you do."

I walked into the elevator and did as he told me. As soon as the doors closed, I slipped the key into the slot, and I big red button appeared. And when I mean big, it was the size of a soft ball.

I pressed the button and waited, as the digital numbers started to slowly go up. Rather bad music began to play on the speakers as it went up.

"_So, what exactly are we going to do?" _I asked, breaking the silence of the ride.

"**Well, I'm gonna take control of your body and then I'm gonna own that entire council meeting." **

"_I seriously doubt your planning sometimes… and your sanity." _I said.

"**Just trust me Perce. I got everything under control." **Adamos said, and just after he finished talking the elevator dinged and the doors opened. I almost took a step forward before I pulled back. Just outside of the elevator door was a pathway in the middle of the air. The steps seemed to just be suspended in mid air which did nothing to reassure me that I wouldn't fall to my death on the first step.

"**Quit being such a baby and get moving."** Adamos said and I could feel him rolling his eyes at my caution.

"_Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that my instinct for self-preservation is bothering you." _I say as sarcastically as I can.

"**It really is. Now get a move on we need to get there before the meeting ends."**

I rolled my eyes and slowly reached a foot out to tap the first of the stone steps a few times before I put one foot fully on it. Now confident that it wasn't going to fall if I stepped on it, I took cautious steps up the walkway. My eyes followed the steps as I walked forward until they seemed to reach the end. However, it seems as if my brain had short circuited for a moment as I found myself unable to form a proper sentence to describe what I was looking at.

From the top of the clouds, a massive mountain peak rested. Snow covered the summit, despite it being summer. Clinging to different parts of the mountain were dozens of multi leveled palaces, all of them sculpted from the finest marble and decorated with different metals that seemed to glow. Bronze braziers were everywhere on the mountain and they each flickered a different color, causing an iridescent glow to cover the mountain. Gardens littered different areas and seemed to be a wash of different colors from the flowers. I could make out an open-air market filled with tents, and an amphitheater built into the mountain side.

Suddenly my feet started moving again and it completely caught me off guard. **"Come on. You can stare at the mountain when we leave. We got places to go, people to meet." **Adamos said as he took control of me.

"_But…how is this even here? It's a mountain in the sky! This shouldn't be possible."_

I could feel Adamos rolling his eyes at me. **"It is possible. Believe it. Now I could tell you the actual reason of how it exists, but I know that you won't understand in the slightest, so instead I'll just say we gods, are awesome." **

"_This is… I don't even know how to process this into words." _I said as I looked around as Adamos came closer to Olympus.

"**Beautiful. Splendiferous. Magical. Disney land 5.0." **Adamos started off. **"I think that those are adequate words."**

"_Yeah…" _I absent mindedly said as we passed through a gate and into Olympus. The buildings looked even more impressive up closely as the marble in the buildings seemed to be made from a single stone rather than multiple pieces. The open-air market was bustling as merchants offered to sell me ambrosia-on-a-stick, a shield, and golden replicas of the apple of discord and the golden fleece, but Adamos didn't stop as he walked right past them with out even looking at their products.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a group of women setting up a stage of instruments in a park, and I could only guess that they were the muses. A small crowd was even gathering in front of them. Overall the entire place looked festive and joyful, and not at all like a major theft and near civil war just occurred.

Adamos walked down a road that was wider than the others and as we got closer to the peak, the amount of people present began to thin out until there was no one left but us. This part of the mountain was lit up like the rest, however it was intricately different. Gone were the stores and the parks and public gardens. This street only housed some of the grandest looking temples that one could imagine. Further up ahead I could even see two that resembled cabins eight and seven back at camp. One being made of intricate silver and marble that glowed in the moonlight, and one that seemed to be made entirely out of gold.

Adamos stopped in front of a vacant space that looked completely out of place on the street. This was the only vacant spot, there was no palace that stood there. Instead all that stood in a large lot of grass was a single fountain, a few benches and archways covered in flowers and a tree that looked to be in perpetual bloom. Even with these it just felt…empty, like something was meant to be here but wasn't. I wasn't able to think too long on this as Adamos immediately left and walked over to what looked like the most modest looking building in the entire area. It wasn't very large or as lavish as the others, though it was still made of marble like the rest.

Adamos walked up to the door of the temple and knocked on it in a musical rhythm. It didn't take long before the door opened, and a flood of comfort hit me. Standing in the doorway was a smiling Hestia in her thirty-year-old form.

"So, what may I do for you fine young gentlemen?" She asked.

Adamos smiled at the goddess. _**"Sorry, but I have a favor to ask of you."**_

**Line Break**

"_So why did we have to see her?" _I asked.

Adamos rolled my own eyes at me and I found it a bit annoying. **"I literally just explained it to her and you. What don't you get?"**

"_Just why we need her."_

"**It never hurts to have a back up plan or a contingency in case things go south." **Adamos mentally spoke.

After the brief visit to Hestia's temple he set off once more, climbing the main road. As we made it closer to the top I was taken back by the largest building present. Not because of how impressive it was, I mean it was probably the most impressive building present, but rather at how strikingly similar it was to Hades palace down in the underworld. The only real difference that I could see, aside from the lack of skeletons and this one had an actual ceiling, was the inversion of color. Where Hades had black and bronze, the Olympians had white and silver. It only took me a moment before I realized that Hades must have copied the designs since he wasn't allowed on Olympus unless it was during the winter solstice. If he couldn't go to Olympus himself, then he would bring Olympus to him.

Heck even the layout was the same as Adamos climbed the steps and walked into a courtyard and making his way into the building and towards a massive set of golden doors. Like the ones that lead to Hades in the underworld, these doors were carved with images in it. However, where Hades had scenes of death and misery, these doors held scenes of heroism. I could see Hercules facing the Nemean lion near the center, Odysseus sailing the oceans, and even the original Perseus killing Medusa.

Adamos walked closer to the massive set of doors and the quietness stopped as I swore, I could hear the sound of…arguing? Grow a bit louder. When he stopped in front of the door, he shifted the backpack on his shoulders ever so slightly. I took that as even he was nervous about what would come next. I myself would be on the edge of my seat if I had one in my own mind.

"_Are you sure you can do what ever it is your planning?" _I ask. _"I mean, we could just give the bolt back and leave."_

"**No," **Adamos let out a deep breath. **"For things to work out, this needs to happen."**

Adamos tentatively reached out and knocked on the golden doors. The faint sounds of arguing ceased.

"Enter." A voice boomed from within.

Adamos pushed against the door with some effort as this thing was obviously meant to be used by beings much larger than my twelve-year-old body. As soon as there was a large enough entrance, he stepped through the crack of the door and entered the room.

Actually, room seemed to be a rather weak description to use. This place was larger than grand central station and at the very least it was fifty times as grand. Marble pillars stretched upwards to meet a domed ceiling that was littered with constellations that moved as if they had wills of their own.

Twelve thrones, each the size of what Hades had in his home, were arranged in an inverted U shape just like the cabins back at camp. And just like the cabins these thrones were in the same sort of style as them or at least something related.

As soon as the door closed with a loud clang, I noticed that twelve sets of eyes were staring directly at us. The only one not looking at us was the little girl, who I made out to be Hestia, that was sitting next to a massive brazier, simply tending to the fire.

Internally I gulped as I felt the raw amount of power that they were exuding. Even if I wasn't in control of my body, I could still feel the pressure and the way my skin felt like it was burning. If Adamos was nervous he didn't show it as he walked straight up to the two thrones that sat at the head of the U. His goal was the man that sat in a throne of solid platinum. Arcs of electricity seemed to travel from the base to its peak and back down his seat. He wore an impeccable blue pinstriped suit. His face was proud and handsome, and his beard was a marbled mix of black and grey that reminded me of a storm cloud. However, what set me most off were his eyes, as the seemed to be a mixture of blue and grey, like a thunderstorm where lightning was about to strike.

"_Zeus."_ I internally recognize.

"_**Lord Zeus." **_Adamos said as respectively as he could as he bowed in front of the massive being. But I had a feeling he was forcing himself to be respectful and pleasant by the traces of tenseness he had in the movement.

Zeus looked down at us with cold eyes, like he was measuring us up before he spoke. "It seems the spawn has at least some form of manners." He mumbled. "So, boy." He spoke louder and his voice seemed to echo throughout the chamber. "Have you come to turn yourself in and confess to stealing my bolt?"

"Brother." The man that sat next to Zeus spoke. His voice sounded familiar to my ears and I felt old memories of a smile surface. I got a good look at him as Adamos turned his head slightly. The man wore a tacky beach get up with sandals, khaki shorts, and a Hawaiian shirt. His skin was deeply tanned yet he had a weathered look to him that showed he was someone that worked in the sun for long periods of time. He had the same black hair as me and his eyes were the same shade of green as well. This was the first time that I had ever actually met the man known as my father, and I felt any words I might have said catch in my throat.

"_**No, my lord," **_Adamos said a bit loudly so that his voice carried to everyone present, gathering all attention to him. _**"I have come here to personally deliver your bolt to you."**_

One of Zeus's eyebrows rose. "So, you acknowledge that you are the one that has my bolt?"

That sentence… it sounded wrong in my head. Like a simple statement that held immense weight to it.

"_**Currently yes. I am the latest person to have acquired your bolt." **_

"The latest?" Zeus inquired. At this now all eyes were on Adamos as he stood from his bowing position and took off the backpack and reached in and pulled out the Masterbolt. As soon as it was out in the open the weapon flared to life and the air began to hum. The power it was emitting was far more than what I had felt at the beach. Suddenly the smell of ozone wafted around as the bolt glowed brightly, as if it was reacting to its true owners' presence. Adamos stepped forward and presented the bolt, which flew out of his hands and straight into Zeus's grasp where it elongated to match his towering size.

"_**Yes sir. The bolt was found to be in the possession of some random minor god." **_Adamos easily lied as he stepped back to his original spot. I didn't know why he was lying but in the corner of my eyes I could see that a few of the gods and goddesses were now looking at us with analytical gazes, while others didn't seem to care. However, the one that seemed most baffled by this was Ares, who until now was glaring directly at us, but his face morphed in to one of confusion before settling on a stone like gaze that showed hardly any emotions. Although I could still see the faintest traces of Ichor where I wounded him.

"A minor god had my bolt?" Zeus asked rhetorically. "Tell me the name of this traitor now! They shall face dire punishments for laying their hands on my weapon." Zeus growled.

"_**I'm afraid I can't do that lord Zeus." **_Adamos said, and Zeus's face contorted to one of anger, but Adamos continued, cutting off whatever he was about to say. _**"It is not that I am unwilling to but rather that I don't recognize the god that helped steal your bolt as he teleported himself away before I could, however he did give away the person that handed him the weapon after they stole it."**_

At this Zeus's angered face eased up, but it still held underlying tones of anger. "Then tell me who this supposed thief is." He demanded.

"_**He said that the one that gave it to him was Luke Castellan. Son of Hermes." **_At the mention of the name a gasp sounded out and Adamos turned to its source. A tall man with elfish features, sandy blonde hair, and wearing a track suit sat at the edge of his seat. In his hand he held a caduceus so tightly that I could see that his knuckles were white. I could only assume that this was Hermes from the striking resemblance to the kids in Cabin eleven.

"Are you sure?" He asked, almost pleaded. Adamos just sadly nodded his head and the elfish man looked to a man who sat in a golden throne. This man had golden blond hair that shimmered like sunlight and could only be described as hot. The two seemed to be having a silent conversation with their looks alone and it wasn't long until Hermes slouched in his throne, a grim acceptance on his face.

Adamos turned back to Zeus and began to tell him about the quest, all though he left out bits and pieces and replaced Ares some faceless figure and expectantly he left out his own involvement. Once he was finished a silence hung in the air, and only the crackling of the hearth broke it.

"You used my bolt?" Zeus said with a glare. Internally I was in disbelief that he focused on only that out of the entire story.

"_**Yes lord." **_Adamos admitted casually. _**"In order for me to properly make sure that the bolt was at no risk of being taken I used it to defeat the minor god. Without such a mighty weapon as it, I would have never been able to survive the confrontation with the unknown god."**_ Adamos began to speak, laying the praise on thick. _**"Such a powerful weapon was able to allow me to best an immortal being. It is truly a magnificent weapon of the highest caliber." **_He praised but internally I could tell he was trying really hard not to grit his teeth as he spoke.

Zeus however seemed to suck up the praise like a sponge to water as he broke out into a smile. "Hmm. It seems as if your spawn has an eye for true weaponry." He said with a mocking grin to my father, who just rolled his eyes in response and began to fiddle with the massive trident that sat in a holder on his throne, which resembled a fisherman's chair. Zeus then looked back at Adamos. "Very well boy, I sense that you are telling the truth so I shall excuse your use of my weapon and your invasion of my domain as you were using it to return it to me. However," His tone then took a serious turn. "I do not like what your existence means for Olympus and should I find you in my domain again then I will smite you, are we clear?"

"_**Of course, Lord Zeus."**_ Adamos said without flinching. _**"But if I may lord Zeus, I also have another reason to be here."**_

Zeus didn't seem all to pleased at my continued presence and probably wanted us gone now that we weren't needed. "What is it?"

"_**Why, I bring you all gifts of course!" **_Adamos said in a delighted tone as a smile adorned his face. This seemed to bring a major mood shift in the room.

"Gifts! Did I hear someone say gifts!" The blonde on the gold throne shouted as he looked at Adamos with his full attention, he was smiling so brightly that Adamos had to squint.

"Calm down you idiot." A short, compared to the other immortals, auburn haired girl said as she threw a knife that missed the blonde by a few inches. But that didn't stop the girlish yelp he let out.

"**Artemis and Apollo never change." **Adamos inwardly chuckled at the two now named gods.

"Oh, relax Artemis," A feminine voice spoke out. Her voice sounded as smooth as silk. Adamos turned to the voice and I couldn't bring myself to look away. Olympus itself was breathtaking but this woman could stop a person's heart with how beautiful she was. Her features seemed to be in a constant shift, going from one style, color, and feature to another. She was filing her nails as she spoke. "I for one am looking forward to what the little cutie brought for us." She said as she looked at me and gave me a smile that can only be described as angelic. I felt myself blush at the praise.

I felt Adamos mentally slap me in the back of the head.** "Stop staring at Aphrodite. I can feel your lust from here."**

"Shut up Aphrodite." Artemis growled. "You'd just drag him off to your bedroom as soon as physically possible, whore."

Aphrodite hummed a bit, obviously not bothered in the least by the last comment. "Hmm, maybe in a few years." She says while looking me over. Internally I squirm as she looks me over but Adamos doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. "He looks like he has potential."

"Must you two squabbles over something so needlessly." A stern voice said. The voice belonged to the dark haired woman from my dream. Her grey eyes cut like steel as she looked between the other council members. I felt Adamos's breath hitch slightly and heat spread through my checks as he looked at her. Her gaze shifted over to me and her eyes seemed to bore into my very soul, like they were digging and dissecting everything about me, but at the same time they had a hollowness to them for the briefest moment. Then it hit me why she looked so familiar. She had the same eyes as Annabeth, so that must mean that this is her mother Athena, who is also Adamos's wife.

"Yeah she's right." Apollo yelled after collecting himself. "If you two keep arguing I'll never get my presents."

"Fine." Artemis and Aphrodite both said, though Artemis seemed to be speaking more to Athena than Apollo.

"_**I think it would be best to go in random order by what I pick out."**_ Adamos said, as if he weren't the least bit fazed by the argument that almost broke out for the pettiest reason. This idea earned an energetic nodding from Apollo and a grin from Aphrodite. Zeus however just huffed and frowned as he realized that he wouldn't be getting his gift soon.

A small sacrificial fire shimmered into existence in front of Adamos, he sent a grateful smile to Hestia, who smiled in return as he took the backpack and started digging around in it. _**"Let's see, I know I put it in here. Grenades, hand gun, sword, spear…" **_Adamos started listing off as he began pulling said objects from out of the backpack, making a small pile that only began to grow bigger. He didn't seem to notice like I did how all of the god's eyes seemed to widen at the ever-increasing pile of weapons that was next to us. _**"Ah here it is!" **_Adamos exclaims as he begins to pull something pink out of the bag, but it seems to be stuck. He digs deeper and pulls. _**"And your gift Lady Aphrodite is your scarf, which we…retrieved?" **_Adamos blinks as he also pulls out…a rabbit?

"_**Ok, I swear I had nothing to do with the rabbit." **_Adamos says quizzically as he looks at the pink scarf in his hands as a small white rabbit clung to the end of the clothing.

"EEEEEE," A squeal broke through the room as Aphrodite hopped off her throne and shrunk down and rushed over and picked the rabbit up and cradled it in her arms like a baby, as she barely gave the scarf a second thought as she tossed it onto her shoulder. "Oh, you are just so cute!" she fawned over the small animal as she made her way back to her throne. Adamos just shrugged and didn't pay it much mind as he began to dig again.

"_**For Hephaestus, I give you the skin of the chimera I slayed in St. Louis." **_ Adamos dropped the pelt in the fire and a second later it appeared in Hephaestus's hand. The forge god had a much more subdued response, giving only a grunt and nod in response.

"_**For Apollo and Hermes,"**_ Adamos grunts as he pulls out two large objects. Apollo seems hop up and down in his seat, although Hermes barely reacts, probably still depressed over the fact that his son was the thief. _**"I…have…a nacho machine and a soda machine that I took from Medusa's lair." **_Adamos pulls out the two massive machines from the confines of the backpack. _**"Which one you want?" **_Adamos asked.

Apollo began to elbow Hermes. "So, which one you want?" He asks.

"Oh, uh… I'll take the soda dispenser, I guess." Hermes responded but his voice wasn't completely cheery.

"I guess the nacho machine is for me." Apollo says excitedly. Probably at the idea that he can add some more gold to his temple.

Adamos lifts the machines one at a time and put them into the fire where they disappear. He reaches into the bag and pulls out a glowing flower.

"_**For Demeter, I have a flower from Persephone's garden."**_ Adamos sacrifices the plant and Demeter beams at the relation to her daughter.

"_**For Mr. D I have a pomegranate from the underworld."**_ Adamos smiles a little evilly. _**"Try to purify it before you drink it. We wouldn't want you to stay in the Underworld. God's know I'll miss you."**_ Adamos tosses the fruit into the fire, some of the laxer gods gave a chuckle when it appeared over Mr. D's head and fell on him since he was asleep up until now.

"_**Now whose next? Oh, its Artemis." **_ Adamos says as he looks over to the auburn-haired goddess whose eyes were focused like a hawk on its prey. She looked like she was just waiting for us to screw up. _**"We have the wings of a gryphon."**_ Adamos pulls out the well-maintained wings and tosses them into the fire. Artemis her focus for a moment before giving nod out of courtesy only.

"_**Next up is Ares." **_ Adamos said and the god of war's brows furrowed in concentration, probably in trying to figure out what Adamos was up to. Adamos pulls out an ornate revolver and gives it a spin in his fingers. He holds it over the fire but hesitates for a second, and I feel his hands clench for a moment before he lets the gun go into the fire. It immediately disappears and ends up in Ares's hands.

Adamos takes a deep breath to relax, but the smile he wore never left his face. _**"Zeus and Hera's gift are a matching set so I'll just get both of them." **_At that he pulls out two golden crowns with large jewels that he got from Hades. He drops both of them into the fire and they reappear on Zeus and Hera's head. Something happens and the jewels begin to glow. For the one on Hera's head the gem glows in a rainbow of colors like a peacock feather. Hera gave a regal smile that only a queen could give and a nod of acknowledgment. The diamond in the middle of Zeus's crown began to light up as if lightning itself was trapped in the gemstone. He summoned a mirror and began to look over himself at different angles, the smile he wore was from him internally complimenting himself.

"_**For my father I have these cards from the Lotus Hotel and Casino. They have no limit so you can have a Vegas night." **_Adamos tossed the cards into the fire and our father smiled gratefully.

"_**Finally, Athena." **_Adamos turned to the aforementioned goddess who seemed to be glaring at him with a scrutinizing gaze. _**"I have two magical artifacts made from a monster." **_Adamos reaches into the back pack and pulls out the Medusa eye amulet and a dual sided dagger that held a green slit eye in the center of the guard. It actually reminded me of that one sword from the show with the cat people. _**"Made with the eyes of Medusa, each one has a paralytic effect."**_ He drops both the amulet and the dagger into the fire where they disappear. Her response was a nod of acknowledgment at the gift before settling on an impassive look.

"This kid is awesome!" Apollo shouted out as he was already snacking on nachos in his throne.

"It must be because he eats his cereal." Demeter said, which only got an eye roll from every god in the room.

"well now that that's over," Zeus said as he was looking over his new crown. "Seeing as there is nothing left for us to discuss. I pronounce this council meeting over." And with a thundering flash he and Hera both disappeared. This was followed by Hephaestus, Demeter, Mr. D. and Aphrodite. Athena, Artemis, Hermes, and Apollo stuck around for a second longer, passing barely noticeable glances before flashing out together. Ares glared at Adamos and I, which Adamos responded with a smirk before the war god flashed away as well.

This left only me, Adamos, Hestia, and Poseidon in the room.

"Percy." Poseidon said in a neutral tone as he stepped from his throne and shrunk down to a mortal height. As I got a closer look, I could notice the physical resemblance that he had with Adamos and even myself when I look in a mirror.

A felt Adamos give up control. **"Go on Percy. This is your chance."** He said.

I had no idea what to do. Do I hug him, do I start a conversation? My mind was a jumble of what to do so I just did what felt right.

I punched him in the gut.

"Oof," Poseidon let out a grunt as I cradled my hand. He was only a bit hunched over a bit and straightened himself up almost immediately, his hand rubbing his gut absentmindedly. "I… probably deserved that."

"Damn straight." I muttered. Adamos has started to become a bad influence with his free use of curse words. An awkward silence fell between us as we shifted on our feet as neither of us seemed to know what to say. At least until Poseidon decided to speak.

"I'm…sorry that you had to go through all of this. I never wished to drag you into my problems." He said.

"I—I get it." I reluctantly say. "A World War III isn't exactly something you can ignore."

Poseidon nodded. "For what it's worth I wished I could have taken you and your mother to Atlantis with me when you were born, but your mother's refusal along with ancient laws as well as Amphitrite and Triton kept that from happening. I just want you to know that I'm sorry for the hardships that you have faced."

"Thanks…dad." I hesitantly said before giving him a hug. The surprised look on his face shifted into a grin as he returned the embrace.

"Percy, I just want you to know that I am proud of you. You have become a fine young man." He spoke as the embrace ended. "I know that you are meant for great things." And with one last smile he faded away, the smell of a sea breeze hung in the air.

I then walked over to the only other occupant in the room and gave her a hug, which she returned. "That went better than expected." I said. Hestia giggled at my blatant summarization. I then began to put all of the random stuff Adamos pulled out into the back pack. I grumbled at him leaving a mess for me to pick up.

"**Yep and now we get to the hard part." **Adamos said after i picked up all of the items and put the backpack on my back.

"_The hard part?" _I asked as I made my way to the golden doors.

"**The godly interrogation." **Adamos said and I could feel him smirking. I gulped at the idea, not finding it nearly as amusing as him.

**Line Break**

Adamos directed me out of the throne room and back down the path that was lined with godly residences and made me sit in the one vacant lot with the fountain, trees and benches. The only sources of light being the torches around the garden.

"**You know this used to be where my temple was when I lived up here." **Adamos spoke as I sat on one of the benches that surrounded the fountain. The garden was surrounded by walls on all sides with arches as doorways leading inwards to the fountain. **"I'm glad that they did something with it at least." **

"_What was your temple like?" _

"**It was…" **Adamos pondered over his next words. **"Different to say least. I used dark colored stones to build my temple and it was surrounded by a garden with a stream. At night the building would glitter like stars. Internally the place held just about everything from books to treasure." **

"_Sounds like a nice place." _

"**Yeah," **Adamos said. **"It definitely held a lot of memories. But enough on the past. Let's focus on the new visitor we have." **Adamos said as I looked up. Standing in the archway with a nasty glare was none other than the war god himself.

"_**Hello there Ares." **_Adamos said with a smile to the war god.

"Alright punk," Ares growled. "Spill it. Why did you lie about the quest?"

Adamos tilted his head in thought, this only furthered to anger the god of war. _**"Why did I? Why did I? I guess I just need the rest of the Olympians to be on their toes." **_

"Why would you lie for tha—" Ares began to speak only for Adamos to cut him off.

"_**Because now you owe me." **_Adamos said with a smirk.

Ares scoffed. "I don't owe you anything punk."

"_**Oh, but you do," **_Adamos said as he rested his chin on his hand. _**"I mean imagine what would happen if they all found out what really happened. I mean you saw how angry your father was when he heard some mere minor god had it. He locked your mother over the edge of chaos when she forced him to be a better ruler." **_He said that last part with a hint of bitterness, but hid it well enough. _**Imagine what would happen if he found out that you helped the thief." **_

Ares face paled at the thought, the flames that mad up his eyes dimmed in fear before reigniting. "And what stopping me from just killing you right here, right now? There's no bolt you can use to save you." Ares said

"_**Because I have backup to protect me." **_Adamos said and his smirk grew. _**"Isn't that right Hestia." **_In response the torches around the area flared at the name of the Hearth goddess, showing that she was indeed listening. Ares was baffled by the display. _**"Face it Ares. You now owe me. Even if you kill me Hestia will still tell the other gods what you did and there is no way you'll be allowed on Olympus for your treason." **_

Ares grit his teeth, his fists opened and closed tensely. "And what exactly do I owe you."

"_**That…will be settled at a latter date. But don't you worry. You'll get that war that you wanted." **_Adamos said and Ares only looked confused at the mysterious statement. _**"Now you'd better leave. I don't know if you'd want to stick around any longer than you have too." **_

Ares began to breathe deeply, trying to calm himself, and clearly not liking being indebted to a twelve-year-old.

"You know you remind me of someone punk. The guy was irritatingly happy, but at the same time he was like a snake in the grass. I respected his skill, but I hated everything about him." Adamos just full blown grinned at Ares.

_**"Oh Ares?"**_ Adamos called out and Ares turned back, a vein visible on his forehead. **_"I want my gift back." _**

I thought that Ares was going to blow a blood vessel as he snapped his fingers and the revolver appeared in front of Adamos, who put into the back pack. _**"Thank you Ares." **_He said cheerily as the god of war disappeared in a flash of blood red light.

"_Oh, my gods that was tense." _I said as I felt on the verge of mentally collapsing.

"**If you think that that's bad wait till you see who's next." **

"_There's more?!" _

"_**Well its been nice but I think that it would be best if you say whatever you want to say… Artemis, Hermes." **_Adamos said. I was looking around but couldn't find anyone only for said god and goddess to walk out form the shadows and grass in mortal height.

"How long did you know we were here?" Hermes asked.

"_**Depends on how much you heard." **_Adamos said cheekily as he began to draw absent mindedly on the bench.

"It would do well for you to speak respectfully in front of an Olympian boy." Artemis spat the word like it was an insult as she glared at Adamos.

"_**Of course lady Artemis. And is it right for me to guess that you're all here for answers." **_

"That would be correct sea spawn." Another voice said as Athena walked into the garden with Apollo closely behind.

"Do we really have to do this?" Apollo complained. "The kid seems cool and I really want to go to bed."

"Get over it you idiot." Artemis snapped. "His story was filled with half truths and those presents were definitely bribes. Just shows how manipulative males are."

Adamos rolled his eyes at the statement about males. _**"You call it manipulative I call it being clever." **_Adamos stood up from the bench and stretched. _**"I mean the presents were to get on everyone's good side true and I'm guessing that most of you here saw past the surface level." **_The gods present all nodded, well except for Apollo but his sister smacked his arm when he was about to speak. _**"There are many reasons for the gifts. One was to get you all to pay more attention to me AND," **_Adamos spoke loudly as Artemis looked like she was about to say something. _**"by extension the demigods at camp and the mortal world." **_

"So, you just wanted us to pay attention to our kids?" Hermes asked.

"_**Well that is a plus, but not necessarily." **_Adamos shrugged.

"Than what?" Apollo said as he clearly looked upset at the vague answers. I internally almost laughed at how the gods looked trying to decipher Adamos's vague answers despite the gods themselves never being straight forward themselves in their answers.

"_**You all already know that it wasn't some minor god that had the bolt," **_Each god nodded. _**"And even if he is a meat headed idiot, he is still an Olympian god. His mind isn't easily influenced unless by something powerful."**_

"And you're implying that something is strong enough to oppose Olympus's rule." Athena said coldly.

"_**I'm pretty sure that you've already figured it out lady Athena. But for the sake of the slower kid," **_Apollo and Hermes looked at each other confused. _**"Why don't you share it with the class."**_

"Based on your story and testament the only possible one to achieve such a feat is…" Athena hesitates. "Kronos." She whispers and suddenly the torches dim in response to the name, any warmth in the air is replaced by a chilling cold and darkness seeps from everywhere. The other gods tense at the name ant the reaction it has on the world around them. I feel a chill go down my spine, Adamos is the only one that acts unfazed as he gains a serious look, but I know how tense he is as I feel him clenching my hands. Then just like it appeared the world suddenly returned to normal.

"Sister," Artemis says looking at Athena. "You can't be taking this males words seriously?"

"_**Oh, but she can lady Artemis," **_Adamos said, dropping all playfulness from his tone. _**"Surely, you've seen it right, or felt it in your domains. You've seen the monsters start to group together, become more organized. The fact that something just seems, although barely noticeable, off with the world."**_

"And just how is it that you know all of this." Athena glares at Adamos.

"_**Because I pay attention. Medusa knew mine and your daughter's name before we even introduced ourselves, almost as if she knew we were coming. And Echidna said she was sent by your father, but I doubt that he would impede a quest for the retrieval of his own weapon. Its pretty easy to put the dots together when you think about it. And Hermes," **_The messenger god looked into Adamos's eyes. _**"You son Luke gave me a pair of flying shoes that were cursed to drag their wearer into Tartarus." **_Hermes began to get a defeated look in his eyes._** "For what it's worth I'm sorry about him." **_

Hermes just nodded but didn't seem to into it.

"_**I have no doubt that you all have thought of this in some way. You all are the ones that interact most closely with the mortal world and should be able to see the signs. Things are stirring and it would be best to prepare."**_

"And what would we do? Its not like we can just prepare for war when we don't even know there's a threat." Apollo asked incredulously. "If our father found out we were going behind his back than he'd surely blow a fuse."

"_**Not out in open you can't." **_Adamos supplied. _**"But there are plenty of things that you can do. Run inventory and stock on your weapons. Find out your allies. Make sure that your enemies are still locked up, terminate the truly dangerous monsters."**_

Athena nodded at the list. "Indeed, all of these things can be done under the guise of daily duties. Preparation is one of the first steps to winning a war. However, that only applies if what you say is true."

"_**Whether its true or not is completely up to you as no one has any concrete proof." **_Adamos said lackadaisically before turning a serious eye to the gods. _**"However, lack of proof does not mean that it doesn't exist. I suggest you start looking for it as soon as you can." **_He then walked right out of the garden and out down the main street of Olympus. This act of walking away earned him a glare from the goddesses and a quizzical look from the gods, but none moved to stop him.

"_Did you really need to draw so much attention to us?"_ I ask nervously. _"I mean now we got five gods with their eyes on us. And not to mention provoking Ares"_

"**That was the point." **Adamos spoke but I guess he could tell I still didn't get it. **"Ares won't be able to do anything with Hestia in on the truth, and it won't matter if those four also know. Also, with so many eyes on us it will reduce the number of attempts at us by other gods for a while as we are the ones in the spotlight. As for those four, that entire meeting was planned out."**

"_How did you know that they were going to confront you?"_

"**Simple. Athena is far to smart to not be able to see through the bribes on some level, and her lack of care for children of Poseidon only furthers her suspicions. Hermes is a master liar and thief, he basically helped invent bribery and manipulation. Artemis's observation skills are some of the best on Olympus and her inherent distrust for males wouldn't allow for her to let this attempt pass. And Apollo is the god of truth. Even if he didn't understand fully like the others he could tell when we were lying. In fact,…" **Adamos said and drew something in the air and a magic symbol formed that he put close to his ear.

"_What are you—" _

"**Shhh, just listen."**

At first all I heard was static before voices began to play. "…can't believe that male has the gall to order us around." A female voice said.

"I don't know, I like the kid, although he does seem to be really intense when he wants baby sis." A male voice said.

"How many times must I tell you that I'm older Apollo!" The female voice said. So that must mean that she is Artemis if the other is Apollo.

"Either way the kid knows things. From what I heard he's barely been at camp for more than a week and it seems like he was able to piece together so much from just one quest. Makes me think that he's smarter than your kids Athena." A different male voice said, which I now knew as Hermes.

Athena didn't even respond to what Hermes said.

"Doesn't change the fact that the boy clearly lied before the council and hid the truth about the quest. I say we punish him. I bet he would make a cute jackalope."

"Not happening Artemis. The kids got more eyes on him than anyone else at the moment." Hermes said. "You try anything than it'll get back to Poseidon immediately. And I'm pretty sure he'll drown your hunt as soon as they get close to the nearest river."

Artemis began to grumble something that I wasn't able to pick up.

"Yo, 'thena? You there? You've been awfully quiet. I thought that you would have the most to say about the Jackson kid." Apollo asked.

"The boy is smart. He was able to gain the attention of the rest of the council even if it was through bribery. He even knew that we knew what he was doing." Athena's voice sounded more frustrated as she spoke. "And now he has us right where he needs us."

"You can't seriously be thinking of listening to that garbage the male was spewing Athena?" Artemis asked in disbelief.

"Nothing that that boy said was false. I know that you each have felt strange things occurring in world."

"Couldn't it just be a string of coincidences?" Apollo asked.

"And if it wasn't?" Athena retorted which shut the sun god up. "We have little choice than to find out for ourselves what is going on and hope that the brat is actually lying. Then we can punish him for it."

"I can't believe the male tries to manipulate the council like this." Artemis spat.

"This has nothing to do with him being a male Artemis." Athena said, and I can only guess that the silence is from Artemis's disbelief at Athena defending us. "That boy is intelligent. Far more than his years imply. It would be best for us to watch him if he does anything as well as look into these claims." After that it was only silence. Adamos took the magic symbol from his ear and crushed it into motes of light.

"_How did you—" _

"**I drew a rune back when we were talking, they didn't even notice it." **Adamos smirked.

"_And all of this? Did you plan all of it?" _

"**Not all of it some parts I had to change, or even drop completely but more or less this is exactly how I wanted it to go. For the gods to enter the field and to find out just how much of a threat this war truly is for themselves. And I knew that Athena was smart enough to realize this and be able to convince the others as well as not turn in Ares since being down an Olympian when a war is coming is a stupid move." **Adamos spoke as we finally left Olympus and he made his way to the elevator. **"The Olympians would never believe the word of a mortal, but one of their own would get their attention. Four of them would certainly cause a stir. Add Hades into the mix during the Winter Solstice meeting and now you have five gods all arguing for the same thing. Now say we were to present evidence on the war to the council during the winter solstice."**

"_We'd have almost half the council on our side." _I thought before quickly realizing. _"And since Ares owes us a debt that makes six members!" _I exclaim.

**"Correct.** **And if we were able to convince father." **

"_That'd be a majority of the council." _I spoke in a whisper of realization and then the elevator dinged as the doors opened.

Adamos walked in with a broad smile. _**"With a majority of the council potentially in the palm of my hand. Oh, I can't help but feel ecstatic when the pieces all fall into place."**_Adamos spoke aloud in a whispered tone. The doors began to close, and the last images of Olympus were seen through the cracks as Adamos began to chuckle darkly.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"_Adamos? Are you secretly a super villain?"_

**A/N: Hello all you sexy beasts. This is your captain Momentei speaking. Congrats to me and all of you. I got over 100 views in my story. I feel like I'm gonna cry. But damn boy this chapter is long. I'm really sorry for not posting sooner but with the holidays as family I was ripped away from my computer. Anyways I really hope that you enjoy the chapter I've been going over how I want this to play out and I think I did a good job. Anyways this means that the first book is over, and we can get to some other stuff. **

**Also, to answer some of the questions. THERE IS NO HAREM! I just want to say that to me harems in stories are often shallow. That's not to say that there aren't good ones like Nutsofchest's stories, but more often than not the relationship is just shallow and trying to balance the romance between so many characters just seems painful.**

**Secondly to Jason wu, Percy might tell Sally in the future, but I must remind you that the amount of time Percy and Sally have been together while Percy hosts Adamos is like maybe 6-7 hours. Not really enough time for her to pick up on any changes or for Percy to feel guilty in my opinion.**

**Also, I need to get a pet peeve out there and vent. There are a few stories that are a turn off for me as a reader when they make Percy someone whose been around since ancient Greece and the literally give him the same DAMN NAME! I mean seriously if he's been around since Athens and Sparta don't go around calling him Percy Jackson. It works even less so if they make him a god. I mean seriously no other god has a last name or a middle one.**

**All right I think I'm done venting. I need to get a Dr. Pepper and huddle on my couch and think of Percy's next adventure. It will take place between the first and second book so there's that.**

**Any who, all you sexy beast have a wonder full new year.**

**Momentei, Over and out.**


	20. Chapter 19:Trade A Bastard For Another

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 19**

**I Trade One Bastard For Another**

"**You know I don't see how extortion and manipulation make me a super villain." **Adamos questioned.

"_And I don't see how it doesn't." _I retort. I continue to stand inside the elevator that leads to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, or as its better known as Mount Olympus. Currently the elevator was going down towards the base floor after we finished our business with the gods. Adamos managed to do everything he wanted to which sort of included lying to the Olympians, blackmailing a god of war, and giving manipulating four gods into doing his work for him.

"**Wouldn't those things just make me a regular villain?"**

"_You're a god so I don't think that regular applies to you."_

"**I feel like I should be offended, but you're right."**

The elevator then dinged, signaling that the excessively long ride was over and that we reached the base floor. I looked around and see that the security guard was still sitting at his desk reading the same book with the wizard on it. However, I did notice that he was giving me brief glances out of the corner of his eyes. Other than the first glance I didn't bother with him as I stepped out on to the streets of Manhattan.

"_So, do we have to head camp right now?" _I asked.

"**I don't think so. I did everything I wanted to accomplish. Did you need to do something?" **

"_I—uh, I wanted to see if Lord Hades returned my mom. He promised to remember." _I thought.

"**Oh yeah he did." **Adamos said, just remembering that fact. **"I don't see why we can't."**

At this I felt a bit excited. This meant that there was nothing left to do at the moment. I brought my fingers to my mouth and let out a taxi cab whistle. Almost immediately a yellow cab pulled up to the curb and I climbed in, gave the driver my mom's address and he took off.

The ride only took maybe ten minutes before the driver pulled up to our apartment building and I paid the fare. Soon I was in front of the apartment and rang the doorbell. Almost immediately the door began to open until she was in full view. My beautiful mother, smelling of peppermint and licorice, not looking the least bit as if she were just held prisoner in the underworld. The smile on her face was the most warm and genuine thing that I had seen for a great while.

"Percy! Oh, my baby boy. Thank goodness you are all right." She rushed over and brought me into a crushing hug. The two of us stood in the hall way as she cried and ran her hands through my hair.

I myself was shaking in her embrace and I felt my eyes wetting a little. I was so relieved to see that she was all right. After a minute or so the embrace ended and she began to tell me about how she appeared in the apartment one morning, scaring Gabe half to death. She said that she didn't remember anything since the Minotaur attack, and she couldn't believe Gabe when he told her that I was a fugitive. Until now she had been worrying out of her mind due to the lack of news. Gabe however forced her to go to work, saying that she had a months' worth of salary to make up for.

I felt anger boiling inside of me at her story, but I held my tongue and instead preceded to tell her my own story, minus a few details so as to not worry her to much or reveal to much. It was harder than I thought to lie to her and internally it made me feel a bit guilty, but I couldn't tell her about Adamos, and I knew she would freak out about the more dangerous stuff I did. I was half way through my story when the voice I wanted to hear least of all sounded through the door.

"Sally! Is the meatloaf done yet or what?"

My mother closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. "He isn't going to be happy to see you Percy. The store got half a million phone calls from Los Angeles…something about free appliances."

I sheepishly rub the back of my head and looked away, I couldn't look her in the eyes. But she seemed to catch on and just gave me a knowing smile. "Just don't make him angrier. Come on."

We stepped into the apartment and immediately I was repulsed by what I saw. The entire apartment seemed to have devolved into a dump. Garbage littered the floor, reaching to my ankles. Beer cans were strewn all across the couch, Dirty underwear and socks laid on top of the furniture and lampshades.

Gabe sat at his now fixed poker table with his three friends playing poker and smoking cigars. As soon as he saw me the cigar fell from his mouth and his face became a fiery red. "You got some nerve coming here you little punk. I thought that the police—"

"He's not a fugitive after all Gabe." My mom spoke up, interrupting him. "Isn't that wonderful?"

Gabe looked between me and my mother, his face showed his obvious displeasure at my homecoming. "Bad enough I had to give back the life insurance money." He growled. "Get me the phone, I'm calling the cops."

"Gabe, no!" My mom cried out.

He raised his eyebrows. "Did you just say 'no'? You think I'm gonna put up with this punk again? I can still press charges against him for ruining my Camaro."

"But—" My mother spoke, but Gabe raised his hand, and my mother flinched. Then I realized something. I wasn't the only one that Gabe had beaten, no my mom was just as much a victim of his abuse, or maybe more.

The burning anger inside began to blaze like an inferno. I grit my teeth and clenched my fist to the point that my knuckles turned white. I was about to step forward, my hand reaching towards Riptide in my pocket, but my body locked up.

"**Don't." **Adamos said in a serious voice. **"Your sword won't work on him, no matter how much he deserves it."** I felt my anger flare further at Adamos's intervention and I felt my foot take half a step forward, but no further as Adamos tightened his hold. I could feel his narrowed gaze on me.

"What punk? Got nothing to say? You touch me, and you're going to jail forever, you understand?" Gabe taunted.

"Hey, Gabe," Eddie interrupted. "He's just a kid."

Gabe looked at Eddie and mocked in a falsetto voice: "He's just a kid." This got a laugh out of his other friends as Eddie looked away.

"I'll be nice to you brat." Gabe grinned, showing his yellow stained teeth. "I'll give you five minutes to get your stuff and clear out. After that I call the police."

"Gabe!" My mother pleaded.

"He ran away," Gabe told her. "Let him stay gone."

"_Let me go!" _I mentally growl and try to break free.

"**And what exactly will you do." **Adamos spoke harshly.** "Stab him with a sword that doesn't work? Or are you going to beat him up with your bare hands in front of all these witnesses and then get charged for assault? Or maybe you would like to throw everything we worked for out the window by going to prison and end up worrying your mom even more."** Each sentence brings my anger down more, not enough to completely wipe it, but enough for me to think straight.

"_I—No I don't want that." _I admit. _"But I can't just do nothing!"_

"**I never said that you would. But there is a time and place for these things."** Adamos says and I feel him let up on his restraint.

I let my muscles relax and I begin to stand on my own. "It's fine mom." I say in a soft voice and begin walking off to my room. My mother follows behind me with an unsure look on her face as we enter my room. I look over the space and it looks the same as before. Filled with Gabe's junk. Stacks of newspapers and magazines were piled into the corners, used car batteries were on the floor, and there were even some cards and wilted flowers from some supportive people.

"Gabe is just upset honey." My mom tried to reason. "I'll talk to him later. I'm sure it'll work out."

"Mom," I spoke up bringing her attention to me. "It won't work so long as Gabe is here."

She begun to wring her hands nervously. "I can…I'll take you to work with me for the rest of the summer. In the fall there might be a boarding school—"

"Mom."

Her gaze lowers. "I'm trying Percy. I just…need some time."

"Mom I can just stay at camp during the summer. At least until we figure something out." I said.

"Percy." She said with a sad look on her face.

"Don't worry, we'll get through this." I said as reassuringly as possible. "We always do." Her eyes looked into my own for a moment, searching for something before relenting.

"So, you're really going to camp for the summer… or forever?"

"That…will depend." I say and we lock eyes once more but this time in agreement. We would see what the future holds.

She leans forward and kisses me on the forehead. "You'll be a great hero Percy. I know it."

I stood up and looked around my room once more. I had felt like I wasn't going to see it again. I then walked my mother to the front door to leave.

"Leaving so soon punk?" Gabe called out from the living room. "Good riddance."

I felt a twist of anger in my gut before turning away. I didn't feel good about leaving my mom with him but there was nothing that I could do.

"Hey Sally," He yelled. "What about that meatloaf, huh?"

A flash of anger appeared in my mom's eyes, but it soon disappeared, and a smile was on her face. It tore me up inside to see her keeping a strong face. "It'll be right out Gabe."

Then she gave me a hug and walked back into the apartment. Back in there with him. And a massive pit began to form in my gut.

* * *

**LINEBREAK**

* * *

"Dammit! Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" I growled out. My fist hitting the wall of an alleyway with each word. I pull my hand back from the wall, seeing the large cracks that appeared on the concrete and the specks of blood on the wall. I look at my own hand and see the damage that I did. The skin on my knuckles was torn and bleeding, but almost immediately small white flames sprout from the injury and the skin begins to stitch itself back together.

I clench my hand in frustration. _"I can't believe I left her. I left her with him." _I mentally scold myself. I had done things that no normal person could do, but I couldn't give my mom the life she deserved. A life without Gabe, a chance to go to college, to meet someone nice.

"**Do you really want to save her?" **Adamos spoke, his voice held no emotion.

"_Yes." _I immediately say. _"She deserves better. She deserves to be happy."_

"**And if I could give you a way to deal with Gabe. What would you do?"**

"_I would do it."_ I thought without hesitation. _"If I could save her then I would do it."_

Adamos was quiet for several moments. The sound of blaring horns and the bustle of the nearby street was all I could hear before he spoke one more.

"…**I see." **Adamos spoke and then he took control and I felt his power. He raised my hand and began to draw something on the ground. With each trace a line of light formed creating a circle. Then came the written words, words in a language I couldn't understand.

_**"H^$&vHRvhddb DWEGVSDGWER%$^&" **_

His voice was distorted, overlapped with other voices. Trying to listen to it gave me a headache, forcing me to tune him out. The dark alleyway was dimly illuminated only by the glowing magic from the circle. Luckily, we were far enough in that no one would look for us unless the walked into the alley.

Once Adamos was done I looked at the magic that he had drawn. The circle was made from dozens of overlapping shapes, words and symbols were written so in such small and fine details that it seemed inhumanly well drawn.

Then Adamos drew another circle, yet this one was smaller by a large margin and far simpler. He placed his hand over the circle and in response it began to glow and then fade. In the middle of the previously empty circle was a set of car keys.

"_What—what is this?"_ I ask as I look over the shirt and the magic circle.

"_**This Percy," **_Adamos spoke, his voice monotonous. _**"Is what you asked for. A way to get rid of Gabe. Using a high-level magic circle, a chant in the mystic language, and a possession of the target." **_He explained and I felt my body come back to me.

I was in shock. This was the answer to what I wanted, exactly as Adamos said. I reached out and grabbed the car keys. I could tell it was Gabe's from the trashy dice key chain. I threw it into the middle of the circle and watched as it began to glow.

"So, what do I do now?" I asked in barely a whisper.

"**Now all you need to do is channel power into it, and it will activate."**

I slowly reach out prepared to do exactly that, but I stopped when Adamos spoke the next words.

"**Just so you know Percy, this is a very high-level curse. Are you willing to ruin someone's life so easily?"**

My hand stops in motion and I freeze. Thoughts began to race through my head. _"Can I do it? Is it right for me to ruin some ones life? What right do I have to do this?" _Even if Gabe was one of the worst people I had ever known, I didn't even know if I could do this. I tried to reach further but my body wouldn't listen as if something was holding me back.

"I—I can't." I say and drop my hand. Flashes of my mother enter my mind and I heard her words she said before I left.

'You'll be a great hero Percy. I know it.'

I just couldn't do it. She believed that I could be a great hero, and this isn't something that a hero would do, but I couldn't leave my mom with him.

"I can't do it, but… can't leave her with him." I growled out, and I internally hated myself for my indecision.

"**Would you like me to do it for you? It's of no concern to me." **Adamos said.

"I…yes please." I said in almost a pleading tone. Adamos poured his power into the circle and I watched as the car keys burst into flames. The circle lit up, casting a dim light in the alley. I was secretly glad at how far in the alley we were so as not to draw any attention. It only took a second until the light died and the circle disappeared, taking away any evidence that what just happened was ever done.

I grit my teeth. I couldn't do it. I couldn't save my mom myself and once again had to rely on Adamos. It left a bitter sweet taste in my mouth. And the line from the prophecy echoing in my mind.

'You'll fail to save what matters most in the end'

"Some hero I turned out to be." I spat. "Can't even save my own mom from some asshole without help."

"**Percy…" **

"What's the point of me slaying monsters and going on quests if I can't even save those closest to me."

"**That's because you're only a child. You shouldn't have to make decisions like this Percy."**

"Than why offer it at all!"

"…**Because choices have consequences," **Adamos explained. **"The choice between saving your mother or leaving her. You save her but destroy another or leave her to fates hands. This is not the kind of choices that you should make… not yet."**

"Ok…I think I understand." I said. Being a hero isn't like in myths and fairy tales. They talk about how that heroes slay a monster and people celebrate, but the leave out the terrible decisions they have to make. "I think I'm ready to head back to camp Adamos."

"**Good, I think we still have enough cash for a cab." **He said and I started walking to find a cab.

"_By the way," _I switched to the mental conversation as I walked out into the open sidewalk. _"What did that curse do?"_

"**Well," **Adamos spoke and I could feel him scratching his head for an explanation. **"That curse basically alters some ones future. I'm pretty sure the ladies fate won't mind, but it's best not to use this thing willy nilly. Otherwise the fates will be pissed. Probably the only reason I can get away with this is because Gabe has no importance in the tapestry of fate."**

"_Wait. You rewrote some ones fate?" _I say. The explanation caused me to pause as I walk but I start moving again.

"**It won't kill him per say, but it should alter how things go for him. Think of it like a curse that brings nothing but misfortune to the cursed."** Adamos explained and I could feel him grinning.

"_So, like what kind of misfortune?" _I ask as I was now genuinely curious.

"**Everything from stubbing pinkie toes on furniture," **I flinch at that. **"To probably being arrested. Basically, his life will be nothing but misery."** Adamos said with glee, his mood flipping like a switch from the serious tone he had before. Honestly it was weird how easily his mood changes.

"_I think I can live with that, but honestly a part of me wishes that he was dead. To payback all of the things he's put my mom and I through."_

"**Oh Percy,"** Adamos said in a voice that sounded like a patronizing parent speaking to a child.** "Getting back at someone by killing them is no good. True vengeance is slowly ruining a persons life over a long period of time, till their will to live slowly deteriorates till they are nothing but a shell of their former self."**

"_Tha—That sounds a dark." _I give a nervous laugh. _"Are you sure you're not some kind of villain?"_

"**Why do you keep calling me a villain?"** Adamos pouts.

I stop and manage to wave down a taxi as it drives by. I give the driver the address to camp and soon we are on our way back. I decide not to delve into the dark topic any further during the ride.

* * *

**LINEBREAK**

* * *

My return to camp was not what I expected. I kind of expected people to be there to welcome me back or Chiron there to ask what happened, but this was nothing like that.

The camp seemed to be in an uproar as I saw various campers all running around with weapons and gear. The were searching through every nook and cranny of the camp. In the cabins, the arena, the lava wall, everywhere. Noticing that no one was going to stop and explain things to me I made my way to the big house. A pit began to form in my stomach, and I didn't know what it meant.

I opened the door and looked around. The living room was completely empty, the lights were off, and nothing looked out of place other than someone had been sleeping on the couch and if the large amount of diet cokes were anything to say than it was probably Mr. D.

"Hello?" I called out, but silence from in the house was the only response.

"Percy!" I heard someone call out from behind me. I turn quickly to find Grover running up towards the big house.

"Grover!" I called out. "You made it back safe."

"Yeah, and I take it that everything went well on Olympus since you're in one piece." He spoke and I nodded

"Hey Grover, what's going on?" I asked. "What's up with everyone?" I looked around once more to see that Campers seemed to be rushing around. I looked back at Grover and he had a nervous look on his face.

"It would be best to speak to Chiron about this." He said. "I'll take you to him." Grover then trotted off deeper into camp. I followed after him, not really having any better idea of where to go. We walked directly to a long wooden building that was halfway between the Big house and the arena. I recognized it as the infirmary and felt my worry deepen. 'Did something happen to Chiron?' I began to wonder.

The two of us entered into the building and I took a look around. The walls were lined with beds and medical cabinets. A few desks were scattered about, and various equipment was in certain areas. Most of the beds were empty but I saw a couple had occupants laying on them. They weren't the only ones it seems as Chiron rolled out in his wheelchair from behind a curtain with some bandages in his hands.

"Percy?" He asked with widened eyes as he saw us for the first time.

"Chiron," I said as I looked over the two in the beds. "What happened."

Chiron seemed to look at me with a gaze that seemed like he was weighing some important options. It was a moment before he decided to speak. "Grover. I think its best if you leave. I need to discuss something with Percy here. Alone."

Grover looked between us but I, along with Chiron, held a straight face, not giving anything away. Grover finally listened to Chiron and left, leaving just Chiron, the two injured and myself in the infirmary.

"I think it best that we speak in the office." Chiron spoke after the he was certain we were alone. He placed the bandages on a table and wheeled himself further into the infirmary and disappeared behind a curtain. I followed after him saw that behind the curtain was an open door leading into a separate room. The room resembled a doctors office you would find in a clinic rather than the multi bed rooms in a hospital like the rest of the infirmary.

"Close the door please." Chiron spoke as he turned his wheel chair around to face me. I complied with his request and closed the door. The smell of antiseptic filled the room to the point I could probably taste a bit of it if I took too deep a breath.

"What happened here Chiron?" I asked concernedly, getting straight to the point. Chiron seemed to age a few years at the question. The grey of his hair seemed to spread, and his face looked more weathered.

"Am I correct in my assumption that you told the gods about the quest?" He asked. I answered with a small nod and Chiron let out a sigh. "When you told me of the line in the prophecy, I must say that I was a little skeptical at first as you can never really understand a prophecy until it comes to pass. And with your suspicions of Luke, I didn't really know what to think." Chiron spoke, his voice taking a somber tone. "But ever since your departure for the quest, things here have only descended into chaos far sooner than I suspected. With the leak of the potential civil war on Olympus, to the cabins picking sides." Chiron shook his head disapprovingly. "It was then that I started to pay closer attention to the campers, and I found one key figure in most incidents."

"Luke Castellan." I spoke, as I could see that this was hard for Chiron to talk about.

He responded with a nod. "I honestly never expected for this to happen. Luke has always been a model and trustworthy camper, teaching the younger ones and helping where he can. But upon closer inspection he has quietly goading the other campers since you left. Then recently I received a summons from Olympus for Luke to be brought for questioning. I had asked two of the older campers to accompany me in the search for him. It didn't take long before we found him alone in the arena practicing."

"I'm guessing that the meeting didn't go well." I spoke as I thought about the two injured campers.

Chiron shook his head. "No, it didn't. I asked him to accompany us till he could be brought to Olympus for questioning. I hoped that this could be all sorted out, but it seems that young Castellan had other ideas thoughts. He injured the two campers I brought with me and escaped into the forest. He hasn't been seen since." Chiron shook his head disappointingly. "I always knew that something changed in him after his quest, but for this to happen…" Chiron left the sentence hanging as if he couldn't bring himself to speak more.

Internally I was burning inside. I didn't expect Luke to resort to injuring other campers. I didn't like the guy, not any more because he tried to kill me with a cursed object, but I didn't think that he would actively attack other campers.

"**A cornered animal is a dangerous one." **Adamos spoke for the first time in a while.

I understood that at least but I didn't like it. But suddenly a thought hit me like a ton of bricks. "Did anything happen to Grover or Annabeth?" I asked. I had closer to the two during my quest and I was worried that either had gotten involved.

"Neither of them were present when I confronted Luke, but word travels quickly through the camp." Chiron shook his head "Grover should be fine, but it is Annabeth that I truly worry for."

I frowned at that thought. Annabeth held Luke in high regard, idolized him some would say. There was no doubt in my mind that she was taking this hard. "How is she?" I asked.

"She has been locked in her cabin for some time now. I wish to see her, but with the state that things are at the moment I don't believe that's possible. For now, it would be best to leave her be."

I frown deeply as the pit in my stomach worsens. The feeling of uselessness grows from when I left Olympus. I felt partially responsible for this outcome. "How long has it been since Luke disappeared?" I asked.

"Two and a half hours." Chiron responded.

I nodded and reached out to the door. I was going to find Luke. He injured two campers and tried to kill me. There has to be a reason behind it and I wanted to know what it was.

"Percy," Chiron called out my name, making me pause as I was halfway through the door. His eyes met mine with a seriousness that he didn't have before. "I hope that you aren't about to do something foolish."

"I'm not, Chiron," I tried to look convincing. "I'm going to just drop my stuff off in my cabin." Chiron's eyes looked over me and I could feel that he didn't believe me, but he didn't stop me either as I walked out of the infirmary and to my cabin.

I walked inside of Cabin three and placed my backpack on my bed and walked out. I didn't bother looking around my cabin as I had more important things to do.

"**You're going to search for him?" **Adamos said. I knew that he already knew the answer but just wanted me to say it.

"_Yes. Two campers were put in the infirmary because of us."_

"**Because of me, you mean." **

"_No, I'm just as much fault. I was there to." _I retorted.

"**You're not going to let this go, are you?" **

"Nope." I said, popping the 'p'.

"**Fine." **He said not really putting up a fight on my decision. **"Just be careful. Luke has access to things that a normal demigod shouldn't. Who knows what he has?"**

I take what he says to mind and reach into my pocket and pull out Riptide. It was better to have it on hand in my mind.

"_Chiron said that Luke disappeared in the forest." _I thought. _"Then there's no better place to start."_

* * *

**LINEBREAK**

* * *

The forest of camp Half Blood was far larger than I thought it would be. The sun had set a while ago leaving the moon as the only source of light, that is if I was a normal person. The forest to me was as clear as it was daytime, which really helped with my search. Or it would have if not for the fact that I had mostly been wandering through the forest without finding anything worthwhile.

"Where the Hades am, I supposed to be looking?" I quietly grumble to myself. As I look around. I notice that I'm somewhere familiar. The sound of rushing water slowly rises as I walk forward through bushes. A stream cuts through the forest directly down the middle. Normally the sound of water helps calm my nerves, but something just felt off about this entire scenario.

"_Something doesn't feel right." _I thought as I felt the hairs on my back of my neck stand on end.

"**There's a disturbance around us. It is magical in nature." **Adamos explained. His voice held an edge of anticipation.

The forest around me was eerily quiet. There were no birds or even insects sounding out into the night air. The sound of the creek was all that broke the silence. That is until a rustling sounded out to my right. My head snapped in the direction of the sound and my body tensed as I saw a form step out. The light of the moon seemed to make his face look haunted as he glared at me. The scar on his face seemed deeper than before.

Luke Castellan had an impassive look as he stepped out from the bushes, but his eyes seemed like they held a cold fury. In his hand was an odd sword that I had never seen before. The blade seemed as if it made from made from two different metals, one bronze and the other a steel grey. The feeling that it gave off was unnatural, as if the two metals weren't supposed to be together but forced together. I felt Adamos become incredibly agitated in its presence, only furthering my suspicions.

"Luke." I said coolly, but I had Riptide at the ready. "That's a pretty interesting sword you got there."

"Only one of its kind." He responded. I could hear the underlying tone of malice in his voice. "But enough of that. I heard that your quest was successful."

"Oh yeah. I had to go through a lot of trouble during the quest. Killed a lot of monsters, just like you asked. But I don't think that I quite enjoyed the little surprise those shoes had. They would have killed Grover if he wasn't able to kick them off in time."

"The curse would have worked if you were the one wearing the shoes, but you gave them to the satyr. Grover has always managed to mess up everything he touches. He even confused the curse." Luke spoke with disgust.

"And I'm going to guess that you also summoned the hell hound during capture the flag?"

"Had to make Chiron think that Hades was truly after you. It pushed him to start your quest early."

"Why are you doing this Luke? What do you have to gain from all of this? Why are you working with Kronos?" I asked. And the air turned cold as I spoke the name.

Luke's eyes narrowed. "You should be careful with names Percy."

"He's just using you Luke." I ignored his response.

"You're wrong. He has shown me where my talents can best be used. Not for some pathetic excuse for a quest. My father wanted me to steal an apple from the garden of the Hesperides and return it to Olympus. My father never cared and just gave me a quest that was already achieved. Where's the honor in that. Repeating what others had already done." Luke spat. The words he spoke, I could tell that he believed them whole heartedly. But that didn't seem to mesh with the image in my mind. I had seen Hermes and the distraught look he had when Luke was revealed as the thief was not one of a parent that didn't care, but rather that of one who cared deeply. Luke just continued his rant. "All the Olympian know how to do is relive their past. And my heart wasn't in it and I returned with nothing more than an empty bag and this scar. But the looks of pity where what truly hurt. As if I was some failure that needed to be coddled."

"Sounds to me like you brought it on yourself." I spoke and his eyes narrowed in fury, but I continued speaking. "You said that your heart wasn't in it. Who knows maybe if you had actually tried instead of giving up than you would have succeeded?"

"Don't talk about it like you know!" Luke growled furiously. "You don't know what it's like to train your whole life only to get a half assed quest. No, the only one who saw my true worth was Lord Kronos. He convinced me to steal something that no one has ever attempted before, something no hero has ever had the courage to steal."

"If you're such a great thief than why didn't you take the bolt and helm to Kronos yourself?" I had to keep him talking. At least until I could figure something out. I had my powers, but I knew that Luke was physically better than me as he was older and had more years of experience than I did.

"I wasn't able to. I was spotted by Ares as I made it to Jersey, but that was also apart of Lord Kronos's plan. He's the one who helped convince Ares to our cause. And everything would have been fine if you had played your part."

"Yeah well, I'm not that good of an actor. Its why I played a tree in my third-grade play."

"Well you can make all the jokes that you want. But it doesn't change the fact that your more of a problem to the plan if you remain alive." Luke said and then with speed far greater than I had seen him ever have he covered the distance between us quickly.

I barely was able to bring Riptide to block the thrust. The strength of the strike caused me to take a few steps back. I immediately counter attacked in order to push him away. I felt Adamos pour power into my muscles as I swung my sword. The strength seemed to catch Luke off guard as he did step away. I was ready to go on the offensive and try to push him towards the river when Adamos shouted to me.

"**Percy behind you!" **He shouted, and I turned around and swung Riptide in a slash only to cut through thin air. I was confused as Adamos wouldn't distract me in the middle of a fight like that, but then a burning pain shot up my leg. I looked down at my leg and saw a pure black scorpion near my leg. The stinger was deeply embedded in my leg. Out of reflex I swiped with my sword, killing the scorpion, but it didn't seem to matter as the poison was already taking effect.

My vision seemed to get blurry, and a nauseous feeling filled my gut, and a pounding filled my ears. I lost the strength in my limbs and fell to the ground kneeling. The sound of footsteps came closer.

"You have sixty seconds to live Percy. Pit scorpion venom works quickly like that." Luke spoke as he squatted in front of me. "Sadly, this means that you won't be able to see the revolution I will bring. Nor watch as I tear Olympus down brick by bri—" Luke spoke but wasn't able to finish his sentence as I used as much strength as I could muster and landed a punch in the middle of his face. The son of Hermes stumbled back, blood dripping from his nose and a fresh scowl on his face. I then collapsed on the ground.

"Fucker," Luke growled as he backed up. "Doesn't matter. The Golden age is coming, and you won't be apart of it." Luke then slashed the air and a dark ripple formed. He stepped through the ripple and once fully through it closed.

I was left there as my blood felt like it was on fire. **"Gah, don't you die on me!" **I heard Adamos shout in my mind, but it sounded so distant. A warmth spread through my injured leg and I saw white flames burning over the wound, but the pain barely lessened.

"_The water." _I thought as I crawled towards the water. My limbs felt like they were weighed down by lead weights. I managed to dip my hand into the water, but the liquid offered no safety to me.

"Help!" I croaked out as I tried to crawl back to camp. I don't know when but at some point, I manage to get to stand up, though barely. The white flame had now completely engulfed my leg in an intense blaze. I didn't know how long it had been, but I was sure that it had been longer than a minute since I was stung.

"Someone help!" I called out once more. I didn't know where I was at this point as my vision had faded already. At some point the relief from the white flame had ceased and the pain had increased back to normal. I stumbled forward as the last of my strength failed me. I expected to fall, but I felt two arms catch me. The distant sounds of yelling and a horn were the last things I heard before I passed out.

* * *

**LINEBREAK**

* * *

"Percy! Percy" A voice called out.

I groaned as I turned away from the voice. The pounding in my head felt like I was being hit with a hammer.

"Wake up DAMMIT!" The voice shouted and I felt a sharp pain erupt from the side of my face. That snapped me out of my near unconscious state as I slowly but surely awaken. My eyes open and is see a dark figure with their hand raised as if to slap me.

"I'm awake." I exclaim and scoot away. This action was costly as the sudden movement sent a wave of pain through me and gave me a splitting headache, only for it to subside into a dull pain.

"Oh Percy. Your alive." A voice sounded out in relief and excitement. I opened my eyes and saw that Adamos was barreling towards me and I felt a brief spike of fear before he scooped me into a bone breaking hug before holding me at arm's length away. "If you had died on me it would mean that I wasted a few months' worth of time on you."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Glad your priorities are in order." I deadpan. I now was able to get a good look at him as I wasn't being crushed by an embrace. Adamos looked worse than I had ever seen him. He had bags under his eyes and his hair seemed to be messed up rather than tied back like normal. His eyes had a tiredness in them that dulled the colors slightly. "You look like crap." I said.

Adamos let out a laugh at my blunt remark. "Yeah healing pit scorpion venom is a very hard thing to do, add onto that keeping you alive for about 6-7 minutes until help arrived is no easy feat. I mean just look." Adamos pointed out into the ocean of the island. I turned and looked at the endless ocean expanse, but there wasn't just water out there. Sitting above the water was a large sphere the roughly the size of the big house and in the center was a glowing orb of multiple colors.

"Is that… my well?" I asked. "Been a while since I saw that."

"Yeah, I mean look you made some progress with your powers." Adamos said and I took a closer look. The glowing orb at the center was bigger. If before the orb was the size of a basketball, now it was as big as washing machine.

"Its so much bigger." I said with a shocked look.

"Yep." Adamos said proudly. "Near death experiences are a great way at getting stronger. Its basically a dragon ball power up. But that's not important anymore."

"How it that not important?" I asked.

"Because of that." Adamos said pointing to the top. My eyes drift upward but I don't see anything out of the ordinary. Just the golden tethers that connect Adamos's power to mine…wait? Tethers?

I look back there and see that instead of the single golden tether that connects my well to Adamos's there are now three tethers. "Why are there three?" I ask. "Shouldn't there only be one?"

Adamos let out a sigh. "The venom from the scorpion is one of the deadliest in our mythology. Ranked as the fourth deadliest. Twelfth if we're talking about all the pantheons. I had to forcefully increase our connection in order to secure your life. The amount of power that I could give you access to wasn't enough."

"So what? Do I have access to more of your powers?" I asked.

"Well technically yes but—"

"But isn't that a good thing. Should make things easier right. If I'm stronger than before and you have an easier way of helping me." I question. I didn't really see the problem.

"You'd think so but no. I only wanted to ever give you the one tether to my power. While having more tethers means better access to my powers it also multiplies the risks of your body being damaged from power overdose. Luckily three was all I needed." Adamos explained. I felt a cold sweat form at my nervousness. I made a mental note to practice control of my powers when I get the chance.

"Say Adamos where did you learn about this stuff?" I asked. He gave me a questioning look. "The wells and the possession?" I clarify.

"Ancient Chinese secret." He says with a smirk.

"Fine don't tell me." I say with a huff.

"What do you mean?" He asks. "I just did. It's an ancient Chinese secret, well mixed in with Egyptian secrets."

"So, do you know how Luke escaped?" I switched topics as I was sure that he wasn't actually going to tell me. "I think he went through a portal." I said.

"Spatial movement is a high-level magic. Not something anyone can just make happen like that. He probably had an item on his person that let him use it quickly." Adamos said with a thoughtful look.

"Aw man. That's no fair." I whine. "Why does he get something as cool as a warp gate?"

"It's not so special." Adamos tries to ease my feelings. "Most magic items have a limited use before they run out. And it takes a lot of time and energy to refill it back to full use depending on how high the spell level is."

"But still! Teleportation!" I shout.

"Will you stop complaining if I teach you more spells?" He offers as he starts to rub his temples. "I'm starting to get a migraine. I think healing you took more out of me than I thought.

"Depends on the spell." I counter.

"An attack and a utility spell."

"Deal." I shake his hand. "By the way, do you think we can use that curse we used on Gabe, on Luke?" I asked in general curiosity.

"No." Adamos shook his head. "Demigods are generally more important to the fates than mortals so messing with their work like that will only piss them off. And I don't know about you, but I don't really feel like pissing them off that much. Besides we don't have anything that Luke treasures. Curse only works if you sacrifice something of importance to the target."

I thought about it and realized just how little I actually knew about Luke. He pretended to be my friend and initially we did speak, but now that I look back, he never told me anything personal about himself other than his hate for the gods. Also tempting fate didn't sound like such a good idea as I remember the sound of those shears cutting the string. I felt a cold chill go down my spine at the memory.

"I think that it's about time for you to wake up Percy." Adamos spoke, drawing me from my thoughts. "You should be well enough to do so. Don't both trying to contact me for a while." Adamos lets out a yawn. "I think I'm gonna sleep for a while." Adamos then flicks me on the forehead and everything goes black.

* * *

**LINEBREAK**

* * *

Usually when you wake up from a fever or a long sleep your mouth tastes like you were chewing on cotton and it absorbed all the liquids. I remember that one time I was sick when I was younger. This time however I awoke to the taste of my mother's cookies in my mouth. I could feel a straw in my lips and a cool liquid flowing through.

"_Nectar."_ I thought

I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a strange room that I hadn't been in before, but it looked oddly familiar. The bed I was in was incredibly comfortable. I looked down to see that my pants were now ruined. What were once a nice pair of jeans was now missing an entire leg and was replaced by a mass of bandages. Argus sat in the corner of the room, his multiple eyes watching everything in the room. Chiron sat in his wheelchair on my right, holding a bottle of nectar.

"Percy," He let out a sigh of relief. "It is good to see that you pulled through."

"What happened?" I asked just for the sake ok clarification. I had a decent idea of what happened after, but I just wanted to know.

"The nymphs found you wandering out of the woods looking ghastly. It took just about most of my healing skills in order to cure you, but I must say your body is quite resilient for being able to endure such an event."

"Still doesn't change the fact that I feel like I've been frozen and microwaved at the same time." I groaned.

"Indeed. Pit scorpion venom is no mere joke. But I must insist that you tell me what happened." Chiron's tone turned serious.

Then I began to tell him most of what I remembered. I left out how long I had been poisoned because enduring a poison that kills in a minute for several minutes is just a giant red flag to any sane person.

"I knew that I should have stopped you." Chiron began to rub the bridge of his nose.

"I have a feeling he would have come to me anyways." I said and Chiron didn't even attempt to rebuke me.

"I hope that you aren't considering going after him?" Chiron asked with a raised brow. His look was one that seemed like it could see through any lie that I would attempt.

I began to think about if I could. I wanted to pay Luke back for this, or maybe I could show him just how wrong he's being. But I dismiss those ideas. Luke has access to powerful magic items and with the ability to teleport I wouldn't be able to find him anyways. "No. I'm not going to go after him." I shook my head.

Chiron had a relieved look. "Good. I'd hate for something to happen to you over something so foolish as vengeance."

"Hey Chiron?" I decided to change the topic for this discussion. "What happened while I was out?"

"Oh, after we found you, we I had the campers search the entire camp for Luke, but we never found him, and now I know why. But after our search turned up nothing, we ended it. We then went through the tradition of shroud burning." He then handed me a golden laurel. "And this goes to the completer of the quest."

"And what about Grover and Annabeth?" I asked and Chiron seemed to fidget a bit.

"Grover has been here a few times to check on you, but Annabeth…After she found out she only secluded herself further into her cabin." He said in a somber tone.

I leaned further back into the bed I was in and looked at the ceiling. I let out a sigh at the news. If she was bad before, now I wouldn't be surprised if Annabeth didn't come out of her cabin for the rest of the summer. It was obvious to anyone with two eyes that she held Luke in the highest regard, and this just shattered her views of him all at once.

"I suggest that you continue to get some rest Percy. Argus will make sure no one disturbs you." Chiron said as he wheeled himself away.

"Thanks." I called out as he disappeared out of the doorway. Argus followed after him, and I assumed he was going to stand guard outside the room. I moved around to get myself as comfortable as possible and closed my eyes.

"_I have a long way to go if I want to beat Luke." _I thought. _"But sleep sounds pretty great right now."_ Then once more I drifted off to sleep.

**A/N: Yay I'm back. Ahoy all you sexy beasts. Momentei here. All right I know its been a bit longer than normal for an update, but I was working a bit too much on my other story and lost focus on writing this chapter. Also, classes and work have just been weird. In response to some of your reviews I'll just say this. About Adamos's relationship with Athena's children I just have to say that his feelings are complicated. He doesn't hate them, but he doesn't love them. The next review is if Adamos will reveal himself to other gods and goddess's and I just have to say maybe he will, maybe he won't. I'm not gonna tell. (Wink) Also yay because this means that the first book is now over, and we can get to some of the adventure outside of camp. But a small spoiler for the sea of monsters. SEA SHANTIES! YEAH!**

**Remember to leave a nice review or follow the story.**

**Over and out,**

**Momentei**


	21. Chapter 20:Easing Back into Things

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 20**

**Easing Back into Things**

It had been two weeks since the whole incident with Luke and I was finally out of that damn bed. The entire time my ADHD was making me want to jump out of bed and move around just a little bit. The only form of entertainment was the bits of news about camp that I get from Chiron.

Apparently after the whole incident with Luke was cleared, the camp did some sort of tradition of burning shrouds. The Ares cabin decided to make my shroud for burning and I can only imagine what monstrosity that they concocted while I was out. Luckily it was burned so I don't have to see what it looks like. The next bit of news was that Grover was apparently given his searchers license by the counsel of cloven elders. He left for his search almost immediately but passed on a get well soon message for Chiron to give me. Overall, I was happy for him getting the chance to pursue his dream. The next piece of news was that Annabeth still hasn't really left her cabin unless necessary. She's refused to speak to anyone, and even Chiron only received a few words. I felt like I needed to speak with her at some point when I got better. The final bit of news was a letter I got from my mother that had arrived about a week after I got to camp. According to her Gabe had been having mysterious accidents ever since I had left. The most recent one was when he fell down the stairs of the apartment building and broke his leg.

While he was in the hospital a bunch of men from the FBI showed up at the front door with a warrant for his arrest. Apparently, Gabe has been doing backroom deals in various illegal substances and black-market products from his store for years. The FBI just about hauled him out of the hospital as soon as he got a cast on his leg set. The court date is within a month and my mom is going to file for a divorce along with the other charges. They apparently never signed a prenup or anything so the divorce lawyer my mom hired is confident that she will walk away with every bit of money that Gabe owns, which apparently adds up to around three hundred-thousand dollars. I couldn't help but inwardly laugh at how quickly the curse that Adamos placed on him works and I felt so happy that she can finally have the life she deserves that I didn't care how much my body was still aching. She also wrote that she might have found a new school for me, but I didn't really care about that.

Speaking of my health my body has apparently been healing much faster than one normally should when poisoned. I think that its partially due to Adamos's powers being easier to access, making healing easier. After the first week I was able to walk around the room a bit, and by the end of the second week I could do basic exercises. Needless to say, Chiron wasn't exactly happy with me every time he caught me out of bed. But he was surprised by how fast I seemed to recover. Apparently, I was supposed to be in bed for another two weeks since the poison was so strong, but the recovery time was cut in half and Chiron was able to, albeit a bit reluctantly, clear me to leave, though I wasn't allowed to do any activities for a while.

The time of my release was actually good timing as it coincided with the fourth of July. Just about everyone was there on the beach in order to watch the show. A large barge sat in the middle of the lake filled with massive missiles. According of some of the campers, the rockets are sequenced so tightly that when they explode, they look like an animation. Honestly, I was looking forward to the show but at the moment I had something important to do.

As everyone else was heading down to the beach I made my way further to the cabins, or rather one specific cabin. This one looked like a marble temple on the outside with intricate carvings of an owl above the door along with the number 6.

I was sure that Annabeth was still inside as I saw the rest of her cabin already heading towards the lake, but she wasn't with them. I knocked on the door a few times. "Annabeth?" I called out, but there was no response. I try again but knock with more force. "Hey Annabeth!" Still no verbal response, but I can hear shuffling inside, so I at least know that she's inside.

"Annabeth. Chiron said that you've been stuck inside your cabin for weeks. Can't we just talk?" I asked once more.

"What do you want?" A voice said from behind the door. The tone was quiet, but I could hear the harsh edge beneath it.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were ok. After everything that happened a since Luk—"

"Shut up!" Annabeth cuts me off harshly and opens the door. Her eyes are a bit bloodshot and there are shallow bags under her eyes. She looks like she hasn't slept in days, but there was an intense focus in her look. "Why do you care. Everything was ok until the gods decided to arrest him out of nowhere after we finished the quest."

"Annabeth," I spoke evenly. "Luke was a traitor. He gave the bolt to Ares and cursed the shoes Grover was wearing."

"And how do you know?" She said challengingly. "What makes you think he did any of that?"

"And what makes you think he didn't." I say with narrowed eyes. "Those shoes almost killed Grover in the underworld, and Luke was the one to give them to me."

"And you automatically assume it was him. What if they were switched out?" Annabeth points out.

"Those were shoes from Hermes. I highly doubt that they are easy to come by." I counter.

"So, what. If the Masterbolt could be stolen than something like that can be stolen to." I grit my teeth as she speaks. She has a point there, but I wasn't about to let her feel like she was right.

"But he was the one who stole the bolt and the one who poisoned me in the woods." I growl.

"How could you know? You don't know the first thing about him!" She yelled. "You're just someone who only came to camp for a week, while he's been here for years."

"Yeah well you clearly don't know him like you think you do!" I shout back. "Open your eyes Annabeth. I've only known him a week, but I can tell that there was something wrong with him."

"Your just jealous. Luke's been a part of this camp for years and you couldn't take him being preferred over you. Can't have some other demigod showing up a kid of the big three." She said mockingly.

"Like I care about something like that!" I shouted at her. My patience was being pushed to the limit with her pointless accusations. She was clearly in denial of the evidence that Luke was the thief, but she wasn't willing to admit she was wrong. "I don't give a damn about some position he had. What I do give a damn about is that we were nearly killed because of him!"

"Just go away Percy. I don't have anything to say to you." She says with an edge to her voice. Without another word she closed the door on me and retreats back into her cabin.

I don't even bother to try to speak to her. She clearly wasn't willing to listen to reason so there was no point in trying with her. I turn and walk away from the cabin as fast as I can. Any semblance of a good time watching the fireworks display was now lost to me.

I don't even bother paying attention to where I was going as I marched off. I could have been wandering around camp for who knows how long before I felt okay enough to stop. The anger that was once an inferno inside me was now reduced to a dim blaze. I let out a soft sigh. _"That…didn't go how I want it to."_ I mentally say to myself. I look up to see where I managed to wander to. The dozen of tables around me are clear of any people, unlike earlier. The only source of light at the moment was the large hearth in the center.

A loud bang sounds out behind me and the night sky now glows brightly in sudden flashes. In any other time, I would have wanted to watch the fireworks go off, but now I didn't want to be around so many people by myself.

"Percy. What brings you here?" A soft voice speaks out clearly despite the sound of fireworks going off nearby. I look over to the brazier in the middle of the pavilion, spotting a certain goddess sitting next to the fire in her thirty-year-old form.

"Nothing." I reply, but she gives me a look that says that she clearly sees through what problems I'm trying to hide. She pats the spot right next to her and almost immediately I cave. Now don't get me wrong, the woman just has a presence that makes you want to tell her anything in confidence, it's not that I felt like I needed to whine or complain.

"So, tell me Percy. What really has you so downtrodden." She says as I take a seat next to her. The warmth of the fire washes over me like a blanket, and I feel any residual anger flow away and before I know it, I'm telling her everything.

"It's just… I thought that Annabeth and I were finally becoming friends. Now this whole thing with Luke has just ruined whatever amount of trust we had made during the quest." I say as I hang my head. Looking back, losing my cool was not the best way to deal with Annabeth even if she was wrong, but you know what they say about hindsight being a bitch. Actually, I think that's the first time I said bitch, I'm beginning to think that Adamos is a bad influence. Now I'm getting off topic, stupid ADHD.

"You must understand Percy that it isn't easy for her to find out that someone she has known her entire life and looked up to, has suddenly turned." Hestia calmly explains.

"I guess." I begrudgingly admit. "But that doesn't mean that she needs to blame me for it. If he was a traitor, he would have left camp anyways. Probably done a lot worse on his way out then." I grumble.

"And you are right." Hestia states, and I must have given her a weird look as she continues to speak. "She is clearly denying the truth. Her pride is causing her to deny what has happens for what she believes."

"Well if she wants to live in her own fantasy world, I say let her." I grumble. "She's a pain anyways."

"Now Percy I know that you don't really mean that." Hestia gives me a chastising look and I feel an immediate sense of guilt as she looks at me. "You're a good person Percy, and I know you don't truly resent her."

"Maybe," I say as I look at the ground. "But I just don't think I can be around her any time soon."

Hestia puts a comforting hand on my shoulder and gives me an understanding smile. "Of course, Percy. That is understandable. Now if you wouldn't mind, I would like to hear about your quest." She said. I had the feeling that she was changing the topic on purpose and internally I was a little grateful. So, I began to tell the hearth goddess all about the quest. This time I spared no detail on what happened since Hestia already knew about Adamos I didn't need to keep anything a secret from her, and honestly it felt good to finally be able to talk freely with someone. I told her about the fight on the bus, the arch, the gryphon, everything.

"That is quite an adventure you had Percy." Hestia said with a smile once i finish. "Not many heroes can say that they encountered and bested that many monsters in a week."

I blush at the praise and scratch the back of my head. Her words sounded so genuine and I wasn't really used to such sincere words unless they were from my mom. "Thank you."

"I know." Hestia said as she had a look like she had an epiphany. She then pulled out her all-knowing book and began to turn through the pages at a rapid pace.

"Um, Hestia? What are you doing?" I asked as I looked over her shoulder. The pages were turning to fast for me to read, and those that I did manage to see were written in a language I couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"You deserve a reward for completing your quest Percy." She explained without taking her eyes off the pages.

"I don't really think that's necessary." I try to brush it off, but the goddess wasn't having it.

"Nonsense. My brother might be ungrateful for what you have done, but I am not. Ah here it is." Hestia said as she stopped flipping through pages. She began to tear one of the pages out and I almost called out to stop her. After all this was supposed to be a divine book, and I didn't think Adamos would be to kind about ripping pages out of his book. But when she ripped the page out a new one grew back in its place with the same texts. "Here you are Percy. Your reward." She held out the piece of paper and I took it. On it were lines and squiggles, it looked a lot like a map.

"That's because it is a map." Hestia said, and i looked at her with wide eyes before remembering that the gods can read minds. I guess since Adamos was asleep, that meant that he was no longer blocking out other gods.

"And it's a map to…" I said with a raised brow.

"To your reward." She said like it was obvious.

"So, after I complete a quest across the country, I get another quest as a reward?" I asked, and I must have been giving her a look because she rolled her eyes at my expression.

"Trust me Percy." She said with a good-natured smile that only showed the best intentions. "This will help you. Just tell Adamos that I asked for you to do this and he should help you get to where you need to go."

"And what exactly am I looking for?" I asked, now my interest was piqued.

Hestia looked at me with a mischievous smirk. "Now where's the fun in telling you." I just let out a groan in annoyance. "Oh, don't be like that," She gives me a small smack on my arm. "but if you want some advice, I would do this quest during winter break." I gave her a look asking why but she didn't say anything after that. I shrugged my shoulders and then the two of us descended into a comfortable silence and just watched as the fireworks flashed in the distance.

* * *

**LINE BREAK**

* * *

After that night the days seemed to pass by. Annabeth and I aren't really on speaking terms and the times that where are in proximity, she usually gives me a glare or just ignores me. In all honesty, if she wanted to be a brat than let her.

I took out all the things that Adamos put in my backpack and I have to say, I didn't know what to do with it all. There was a literal pile of weapons in the middle of my cabin that I didn't know what to do with. After about an hour of thought I just decided to give them to the camp. I really had no use for all of it and I wasn't sure that I would need to use most of it. I managed to convince the Hephaestus cabin to come in and take it all away. They were a bit skeptical at first, but once Beckendorf saw the stockpile I actually saw him smile for the first time.

They hauled off the goods and Beckendorf said that he would personally forge me something in the future if I wanted. Especially since I managed to get my hands on some firearms with Celestial bronze bullets. I was confused at first until he explained that Celestial bronze bullets were insanely difficult to forge for some reason I didn't really understand. I just thanked him for the offer and told him I'd think about it.

Now, I didn't let them take everything. I still had a backup sword, a knife, a few grenades, and that revolver that Adamos seemed so obsessed with. I don't know why he wanted it so much, but I guess the rarity of it was a to good for him to pass up. I personally didn't really see much appeal in firearms, something with them just didn't sit right with me.

It was that afternoon that Adamos actually woke up and began to talk to me again. I was actually glad. After having him to speak to for so long, it tended to get pretty quiet when I was alone. Although the mood wasn't entirely cheerful as he began to sulk as soon as he found out that I gave just about everything away. Though he got over it pretty quickly once I told him about the quest from Hestia.

(Flash back)

"**So, this is what she gave you?" **Adamos asked as we looked at the page in my hands. I was sitting in my cabin

"Yeah, she said you'd know where it was." I said as I looked over the paper once more.

"**It's a location to one of my vaults. I think it's the one in Acadia National park."** He says and I let out a groan.

"And where is that?" I ask. I didn't really have much knowledge on where national parks where other than Yellowstone being in Wyoming.

"**Acadia National Park is located on Mount Desert Island near Maine. Its also the highest point on the east coast."**

"Well," I say as I rub the back of my head. "At least Maine isn't too far away." I was beginning to think about what I needed for such a trip. Maybe I could ask Chiron about this park. He's old so that musty mean he knows things, also I'm pretty sure that he and my mom would be too thrilled about me going on another quest without consulting him. "Hestia did give me a time restraint."

"**Oh? When is it?" **

"She said to go during Thanksgiving break. She seemed a bit insistent on that time."

"**She probably knows something that we don't." **Adamos says with a shrug. **"But this is actually a good for you. If this is the vault that I think it is, what's in it can be very useful."**

"Well, all I know is that I have some time between then and now, and I'm fine with that." I say as I store the map into my backpack.

(Flashback end)

I made my way out of my cabin this morning and walked to the secret cove for the first time since I got back. It was a rather nice day today; I mean the weather is controlled but for some reason the weather just felt better, if that makes any sense. A few of the campers at the basketball court waved to me as I walked by.

Another thing that happened. The campers have started to treat me much better than before. They were more friendly and some of them would even ask me to join them in activities. The daughters of Aphrodite have been especially…forward with including me. That was a new experience, luckily for me though Selina, the head of the Aphrodite cabin, stepped in and rescued me from there clutches.

I didn't take me long to get to the cove, after a while I memorized the path. I looked around just to make sure that no one was following me, and I entered the secluded beach. The sparring golem, Kevin, was sitting on the beach doing nothing. He seemed to have grown a bit of foliage over his stone body, and what I assumed to be a half-finished bird's nest on his shoulder while I was gone. He was perfectly still until I came within ten feet of him, and he stood at attention. The empty bird's nest breaking apart at the sudden motion.

"Hey Kevin." I said a bit awkwardly. The golem gave a mechanical wave to me. I decided to start greeting him because at some point in my training before the quest, I got a certain thought in my head the maybe the stone man actually had a bit of a personality. It wasn't completely there but I remember a few times in my training that he would do some vaguely human like things. Like giving me a thumbs up after sparring, or I swear I saw him clapping when I had my first successful **Quen** spell.

"I think that I'm ready to get back into training." I say as I draw out Riptide and take a combat stance in front of Kevin. In response Kevin summons a stone pole the same length as Riptide.

"**You sure Percy?" **Adamos asks. **"Pit Scorpion venom is no joke. You sure that you don't want to rest for a few more days?"**

I give an eye roll at his questions. "If I have to sit around any longer, I'm going to go insane. I need to do something." I could feel Adamos let out a shrug of his shoulders and I guess that was the sign to go ahead as almost immediately Kevin strikes me with a thrust without warning. I manage to block it but the force was enough to push me back and on the defensive. This spar goes on for a while, and I could feel Kevin getting faster and using a new style every time I think I'm matching his flow. It wasn't too much faster or overly skilled techniques that would have beaten me, but they were spontaneous changes that would throw me off guard. I did manage to get in a few hits and counters, but most were deflected or dodged. Every twenty minutes or so Adamos would stop the sparring and point out a few flaws in my form and a new technique to use, some of which were just straight up punches and kicks. He reasoned that a weapon wasn't the only thing to rely on, and that a well-timed kick can end a fight just as quickly as a stab. At one point he even had me summon the backpack just to practice with the revolver after reassuring me that the barrier around the area would block the sound of the gun firing. However, we quickly gave up on that training as soon as I fired a few rounds with mortal ammo. It turns out I was just as bad with the hand cannon as I was with the bow. They didn't shoot backwards thankfully, but the bullets didn't even make it close to the target. Even after Adamos set up the stance for a perfect bullseye for me the bullets still missed. He kinda got depressed about that and was mumbling about getting rid of a red trench coat and silver hair dye. I didn't even want to know what he was planning with that.

Then like every time before, after a few hours I laid on the sand, covered in bruises and scrapes. My lungs burned and I felt like my muscles were being torn apart. I was smart enough to lay near water and let the tide wash over me. The relief of the water was a godsend to my aching muscles.

"**So, are you ready to learn more magic?" **Adamos asked as I lay there on the ground, still trying to catch my breath.

I push myself to my feet and start to breath with my hands behind my head, a recovery method to get more air into my lungs. "Yeah." I say with a deep breath. "I think I'm feeling good enough." I was glad that we were moving on as I doubted my body could go another round physically.

"**For today's lesson we are going to be learning two spells. The two of them are sort of similar, and to learn were going to try a different style."**

I raised a brow in curiosity. Learning the **Quen** spell was a bit painful due to having the barrier tested with thrown rocks. And since my spell failed more often than not, I was left with some pretty sizable welts from the experience. "So, no rock throwing?" I asked warily.

"**No Percy. No rock throwing. Well, at least i don't think so."** He said and that just left me more confused. I couldn't really think of a magic that involved throwing rocks. Maybe it was an earth magic, but I doubted he would teach me what seemed like an obviously redundant ability when I can move the earth with my own powers. **"I think you have a knife in your bag. Bring it out for me along with the book of spells. And then grab a bunch of random stones."** He instructed and I followed suit.

After a few minutes I was standing in front of a decent pile of rocks with a bronze knife in my hand, still at a loss as to what I was supposed to do. Adamos sensing my confusion decided to explain.

"**The lesson today is teaching you to work with magic circles." **As he said that, Kevin the golem came over and took the book of spells and turned to a random page within. I looked at the pages and focused on the two large symbols on opposite pages, the smaller text I could read latter. One looked like a backwards G in the shape of a triangle, while the other looked the letter A except that it had a pair of stick figure arms reaching upwards from the line in the middle. The second spell was inside of a rather simple magic circle. At the top of the page the two spells were labeled **Aard** for the G shaped one, and **Sha'an **for the one that looked like the letter A.

"**These two spells are opposites. The Aard spell is the quick cast spell for the concept of repulsion, while Shaan is the low tier spell for attraction." **Adamos explained. **"One forces something away while the other pulls something to you, and to test those you are going to learn how to draw runes and magic circles on those rocks." **

"Okay, I think I understand, but how am I supposed to write them. I don't have a marker." I brought up. The exercise made sense. It was like when I summoned the backpack onto the Arch in St. Louis, only this time I wasn't going to have Adamos guide me in the drawing.

"**That's where the knife comes in."** He says and I give a skeptical look.

"Adamos, I know this is a decent knife, but I don't think its gonna last long carving rocks."

"**It will after I modify it."** Adamos says and I feel him asking for control, so I give it to him. He turns the sand into a flat surface and a magic circle forms in it. He places the knife in the center and then pours his power into the circle. Like I saw many times before, the circle glow, followed by the knife. Then the metal weapon begins to contort and alter in shape before it finally settles on a shape that resembles a metal handle with a needle on one end and a scraper on the other. It looked exactly like any other tool that you would see in a ceramics class, but I could sense that it was more than just that. There seemed to be a simple enchantment placed on it. **"You will use this to write the runes and such. Both ends are enchanted to carve through regular stone like clay. You won't have to worry about the needle going blunt due to the enchantments as well but do be careful not to force it through as you might accidentally stab your hand." **Adamos warns.

I pick up the tool as well as a stone and gingerly press the tip to the stone. I push it in and while there is some minor resistance, the needle passes through. I pull it out and where it was is now a hole in the rock. "Ok, this is kinda cool." I said with a smile as I begin drawing random things into the stone. Not many people know this but I'm actually a pretty good artist. Drawing was one of the few ways that I could cope with my ADHD in class. I doubted that I was good enough to win some kind of major award in any competition, but I was definitely good enough for people to take notice.

"**Alright, let's get back on track." **Adamos brings me back to what we were here to do. **"I want you to carve the spell onto the rocks, then we are going to study how well you did." **At that I sit down on a small dune of sand and spend the next few hours carving the spells into the stones. The first half was on the **Aard** spell since it was just a rune, and the second half was learning the magic language and writing for the low tier spell **Sha'an**. Occasionally Adamos would inspect my work and sometimes he would point out simple mistakes like one line being too long or I made an edge round instead of straight or I misspelled something in the spell circle. My hand began to cramp after a while but luckily, I heard the horn for lunch and took a break for that, but after I was finished, I headed back and started carving again until I ran out of stones.

By then it was around three in the afternoon and my hands were seriously throbbing to the point that I dipped them into the water to soothe them. I switched hands partway through after a particularly nasty cramp.

"**You think you're ready to cast them?" **Adamos asked.

"I just spent hours carving the same things into stone." I retorted. "I think I've memorized the basic shape of the runes and circles." I then held out my hand and brought the image of the **Sha'an** spell to my mind. I wanted to try out the low tier spell first. Adamos said that is was a spell used to attract things and I looked at one of the rocks that I used for a carving and thought about it coming to me.

"**You need to be careful when trying out new magic Percy. Sometimes magic can ba—" **

**"SHA'AN!"** I shout, cutting Adamos's explanation off. I feel a slight pull in my gut. It was the same amount I used in the **Quen** spells during the quest as it was the only spell i had experience with. In front of my hand the magic circle for the spell glows into existence. The main rune sits at the center of a square inside of a ring and a few words in the magic language rotate inside the ring. A matching one appears on the rock I'm targeting, and it begins to glow a light blue.

The rock then shoots at me faster than I expected it to, and I yelp as I jump out of the way, cutting the spell off out of reflex, and the rock hitting the tree behind me with a loud thud.

"That…wasn't what I expected." I say as I say as i look at the small dent in the tree trunk.

"**Maybe next time you'll let me finish speaking before you try out the spell." **

"Noted." I said as I get back to my feet. "What do you think went wrong?"

"**Maybe try putting less power this time." **Adamos suggested.

"Ok. Second times the charm." I say as I try again at half power on a different rock. This time the rock flew at me at a much slower pace, one akin to a casual toss, and I easily caught it in my hand. "That was much better." I say as I toss and catch the stone a few times before dropping it.

"Alright. On to the next one."

"**Remember Percy. Half strength."**

"Right." I acknowledge, taking a stance. In my head I began to think that about the** Aard** spell. If the **Sha'an** spell was attraction, then for this I have to imagine the opposite effect.

"**AARD!**" I shout as I bring the image of the rune into my mind and imagine a pushing action. I once again feel a pull in my gut and the backwards G shaped rune lights up in front of me without the magic circle surrounding it like the other one. The space in front of me explodes with a concussive force, kicking up sand and even pushing some of the rocks closest to me a few feet away. I was grateful that I took a stance this time as the force was enough that it threw me off balance slightly.

"Woah." I said as I looked around at the results of the spell.

"**Congratulations Percy. You are now a Jedi."** Adamos said with a tone of satisfaction. I felt a grin spread on my face and satisfaction at the results as well.

"This is so cool." I whisper. "I wonder what else I can do?"

"**Well Percy. If your willing to learn. We can go over magical application, alteration, and theory lessons."**

I grin at the idea. "Let's get started!" I said excitedly and then Adamos and I went over lessons in magic, and for the first time I found myself actually paying attention to the lesson and trying to understand what he was teaching. This went on for the rest of the day, and few times a week for the rest of the summer.

**A/N: Hey everyone. Momentei here. This chapter is a bit overdue. Mostly because I've been sick and my college has been under watch of a potential coronavirus case, so I've been a bit testy. Anyways onto recent news on the day that I finished writing this chapter TeamFourStar has finally ended the Dragon ball abridged series. I just want to say that those guys are a huge inspiration to me for how well their works increase in quality over time. What started as amateur abridged works has become something so coveted and well made that it has become just as beloved and memorable as the actual series. I don't care that there won't be another season, in fact the end with the cell saga is good enough for me. My only wish is that they make a short abridged clip of Vegeta's sacrifice from the Buu saga. Now onto me I just want to say that if there are those that have some problems with my work, I just want to say that I'm sorry. I consider myself an amateur writer and I hope to grow better to meet your expectations. I have taken your critique into consideration and have planned a bunch of things for future chapter and how I want them to go. I've even talked with some of you about what the future chapters hold( Those of you know who you are) and I will be incorporating them in. Now like always, leave a review for the story, if you have suggestions for how to improve my writing I will take them. And finally please follow and favorite the story.**

**Momentei, Over and Out.**


	22. Chapter 21: Movie Night

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 21**

**Movie Night**

The end of summer was closing in rather quickly and with it the end of my first summer of camp. I received a letter on my bed one day that was a formal notice to inform the camp if I would be staying year-round or if I was going home. I didn't really give it much thought and just chose to go home.

Now that Gabe was out of our lives and my mom had gotten a large sum of money from the divorce, she was able to move out of that crappy apartment and into something much nicer. There was no longer anything keeping her from getting the life she deserves or us from living together happily. I originally thought that Adamos would have some objections but actually he was alright with me leaving camp. His reasoning was that I would be able to move around New York without having Chiron or some other campers breathing down my neck about why I was sneaking out of the camps borders. And as for training, he said that he'd probably find a way to make sure I stay in peak condition. Although the tone in his voice made a small tingle of fear go down my spine for what he comes up with.

Currently I was sitting inside my cabin reading through the spell book that Adamos got me before I left for my quest and writing things down. Now I know what you're probably thinking, 'Percy Jackson reading? That's impossible.' And normally you'd be right, but researching magic is far more entertaining than reading a book. I haven't been able to learn any new spells other than the three that Adamos taught me, but I was currently spending my time writing down letters and sentences for practice.

As it turns out magic is written and spoken in an entirely different language, or rather languages as some forms of magic come from different parts of the world and are completely different in every aspect. One chapter was all about Japanese magic using seals, hand signs, talismans. The chapter on the Celtics was about runes much like my quick cast spells but a bit more advanced as it requires writing the word rather than a symbol. Adamos explained that the quick cast spells like QUEN and AARD were developed by him alongside a group of monster hunters that existed during the dark ages. He said it was modifying magic runes by using the idea of Japanese kanji in order to simplify the magic into a single rune.

That really got me excited as it meant that different magics could be combined or even modified. The possibilities were endless. The only downside would be that I would have to learn the magic language by myself. Adamos did give me a few exercises make it easier to learn but he refused to just give me the knowledge quite adamantly.

(Flash back begin)

"Wouldn't it just be easier for you to, I don't know? Implant the language into my head, or just tell me the answers?" I asked. I had spent a total three hours reading and trying to memorize the magic alphabet and rules for the language. Luckily the book was enchanted to counteract dyslexia or else I wouldn't have made it twenty minutes.

"**And what good would that do you?" **Adamos asked.

"It would make learning all this easier for one. And also, I wouldn't have to sit here and memorize an alphabet." I said as I looked at the book with slight distaste. Even if I no longer got a headache from reading the damned thing, learning a new language was much harder than most of my schoolwork. Especially since there was no Rosetta Stone service since the languages in the book didn't exist in the mortal world.

"**Blessing you with immediate knowledge will only hinder you." **Adamos said adamantly.

"How?" I asked as I plopped down onto the bed. The book bounced a few inches when I did.

"**Learning a skill is better because the skill will stay with you longer. It's like muscle memory. Once you get good enough it will never truly go away. The same however can't be said for blessings." **Adamos said with a tone of distaste in his voice. **"A blessing can easily be removed if a god knows how. You can lose all the skills and knowledge that you have if you are just given it. In the end it will only hinder your growth and creativity with what you do with it. Its why my blessings don't grant immediate results, they just improve the learning curve."**

"So, I still have to learn all this myself?" I asked thought the question was completely rhetorical.

I could feel Adamos roll his eyes at me. **"Quit bitching. You're learning something that any other camper would kill to learn."**

"Don't have to be an asshole." I mutter.

"**You don't have to be a brat." **Adamos retorts and the room goes silent for a few moments before we both let out a laugh. **"All right. That's enough. Show me what you're having trouble with." **

"All right so I was looking at these…"

(Flash back end)

I put the pencil I was using down and rub my eyes. Outside of my cabin the sun was beginning to reach the horizon. It was getting quite late in the day and since it was after dinner than there was nothing for me to do. This was even my off day from Adamos's training so that just left my schedule even more barren for the day.

"_UUHHHH! There's nothing to do!"_ I mentally groan in my head as I lean back and lie on my bed and stare at the stone ceiling of Cabin three.

Adamos was quiet and left me to whatever I wanted for the day. I went through the activities at camp and for some reason some of them felt lacking. The sword fighting against those my age group wasn't as challenging after getting used to Kevin's preset skill in all forms of combat and his greater speed and strength. The other campers seemed as if they were moving quite lazily. Well, there were a few of them that could put up a challenge, but those numbers could be counted on both hands and they weren't always around during my classes.

I had to wait another year for that awesome rock wall since the camp has an age requirement for it. Apparently, a few years ago, a younger camper got stuck up there and refused to come down once the lava started to fall. The rest of the activities were just meh.

"_I wonder what Adamos is doing?" _ I thought as I closed my eyes and remembered that island. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore. The warmth from that fake sun on my skin and the brightly colored jungle that lead deeper inland. Sometimes when I remembered the island I could feel as if I was actually there.

Chirp-chirp…

"_Yeah there were even birds."_ I thought.

.

.

.

"_Wait birds?"_ My eyes open, and I look around and see the beach and the house in the distance. This time however I was all alone. Adamos was nowhere to be seen which I found weird as I began to walk around. Usually he was here to meet me whenever he pulled me in here, or he was at least nearby.

"Adamos?" I called out. "You here?" There was no response. I walked around the mansion and even went over to the dock with the lounge chairs on it. Again, there was no one present.

I had checked around the immediate area. I had searched around the mansion and still didn't find him. That only left…

Inside the house.

My eyes went to the sliding glass door. The thoughts rolled in my head. _"Should I go in? Can I go in?"_ I didn't know if it was even possible for me to go inside the building. For all I knew it was just a construct that Adamos made in my head. Like a giant doll house, only for show.

I walked over the wooden patio floor of the building and up to the glass door. There was nothing blocking the view inside.

The floors were made of black marble with walls of pristine white. There was a media room that sat off to the right of the entire room. The couch wrapped around a large ottoman like a large black omega. A massive flat screen T.V. sat on the wall, taking up a large portion of it. The size of it meant that it could have been 70-80 inches. An empty doorway off to the side held what looked like a large table and a cabinet filled with plates and glasses. On the left wall opposite of the room was another doorway that looked like it led to the kitchen. Further back the room opened up and I could see the front door and a stairway.

I put my hand on the sliding door and give it a pull. The door easily slide over without any resistance.

"I guess that means I can go in." I muttered as I stuck my head in.

I step inside and I immediately feel the temperature change as a cool breeze hits me. It was at a comfortable temperature, the kind that seemed perfect, like it wasn't to warm or to cold. It was the perfect room temperature. "I can't tell where the air ends and my skin begins." I say as I feel the comfort of the room.

"_Wait, its not the time for that." _I shake my head and walk further into the house. I pass the media set and go straight to the front door. _"If I'm gonna start anywhere, why not the beginning."_ The front door was a pitch-black wood with a minimalist handle and lock. Right next to the door was a rock and sand pit with a small tree, and on the other side of the door was a pair sandals, a pair of running shoes and combat boots and a luxury pair of slippers with the letters ADA on the left and MOS on the right one.

"Seriously?" I deadpan as I look at the soft grey colored footwear. I was about to walk away when I suddenly had a thought.

* * *

A few minutes later I was walking around the house exploring with the insanely soft slippers on my feet and my shoes by the door. "Oh my god." I let out a content sigh as each step was like walking on a cloud that molded to my feet. "Eat your heart out Dr. Scholl."

The rest of the exploring was rather uneventful as I was correct about what was on the first floor, with the exception of a locked door that I couldn't get into, a closet with cleaning supplies, a bathroom, and a guest bedroom all in the right wing of the mansion. The left wing was dedicated entirely to a gym.

The second floor was filled with rooms and a veranda. The first room was a large library filled to the brim with books. There were textbooks on various subjects, research papers, comic books, manga, novels, poetry and much more that I didn't bother to look at. The next room I looked at was just another bedroom, much like the first one along with a bathroom next to it.

The entire floor was filled with barely mentionable rooms. Some filled with computers, and some filled with plants like a small indoor garden. It was the last room that I looked into on the second floor that was the most extravagant and eye catching.

The room was the largest so far. It was obviously meant to be a master bedroom, but it was turned into a room filled with nothing but artwork and pictures. The framed pieces lined the walls all the way to a full window wall that faced the ocean. There were framed photos of Adamos in various places around the world. Sometimes he was talking to someone or he was with a group of people that I had never seen before. Some looked like Vikings, some wore oriental silk robes, one where he was alone in purple robes, had grown out his hair, and carried an extremely long katana on his back. One of a beautiful looking woman in purple carrying two long red spears. Another picture if a young man holding a sword with a look of awe as he stood over a stone. One of a long-haired man handing out food to the sickly with a kind smile on his face, and another of a young blonde woman in dark blue robes and silver armor carrying a beautiful battle standard. Currently I was looking at a picture of Adamos carrying two smiling little girls on his hips, they both looked around five years old in the photo. The girl on his right hip had wild blonde hair and sun kissed mocha color skin, while the girl on his left was her opposite with pale snow-white skin and dark black hair.

"What are you doing?" A voice said from behind me.

"KYAAAAAHHHH!" I screamed, totally not like a little girl, and jumped away from where I was.

Adamos stood behind where I just was with his arms crossed. He wasn't dressed in his normal robes and golden accessories, but instead wore sweatpants and a sleeveless workout shirt that seemed to almost hug his muscular body. He raised an eyebrow at me as I tried to calm my heart from the surprise scare, but I saw a flicker of amusement in his eyes as he looked at me.

"Don't scare me like that!" I sort of shouted at him.

Adamos rolled his eyes at me. "I wasn't even trying to scare you. Now why don't you tell me exactly what you were doing?" He asked.

"I… don't know." I admitted.

"You don't know?" Adamos parroted with a raised brow.

"I wasn't exactly meaning to come here. I was just laying on my bed and thought of the island," I say and motion at the window, or rather what was beyond it. "And the next thing I know I'm out there."

"So, you came here on accident." I nod at his statement and he looks me in the eyes for a few moments. His gaze made me squirm as the multicolored orbs seemed to pierce into my soul, and then just like that the look was gone. "Ok. I believe you."

"What?" I said confused. "You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" He asked with another raised brow.

"For… you know. Trespassing in here and looking through your house."

Adamos let out a chuckle. "Percy, there's no reason for me to be mad. I may have made everything in here, but this is still your mind."

"Ugh." I face palm as I just remember that fact and I hear Adamos chuckling at me. "Shut up its not funny." I snap at the god.

"Oh, come on it's a bit funny. For me that is." He snarks. "So, was there a particular reason you were in this room?" He asks.

"Not really," I shrug as I stand next to him and look at the pictures once again. "You have a lot of rooms filled with crap."

This time Adamos let out a shrug. "A guys gotta have hobbies. I'd probably go insane without things to do in here."

"So, what's with all the pictures?" I asked as I looked at the dressed-up figures. "They from Comicon or something."

"No, they aren't from Comicon." He says with a laugh. "These are pieces of history converted into pictures using magic."

"So what? Like a magic camera?"

"Some thing like that." He said, not explaining any further.

"So, who are these people?" I asked eying the pictures.

"Well this one," Adamos says as he points to the picture of the young boy holding a sword. "Is my son Arthur Pendragon before he became king."

"And is that Excalibur?" I say eyeing the sword in the photo.

"Yeah," He lets out a sigh which makes me give him a questioning look. "I gave the sword to Merlin so that he could give it to Arthur when he was of age. But the jack ass had other ideas and just stuck it into a rock until Arthur came along."

"So, he wasn't supposed to pull the sword from the stone?"

"Not in the slightest. I think Merlin just likes to watch people struggle." And I must have been giving him an are 'you serious look' because he just shrugs that he didn't know why either.

"And who's this?" I ask as I look at the next picture of the long-haired man.

"Jesus." He said simply.

"Huh." I said as I get a closer look. "he's not as skinny as I thought he was."As i see him looking quite fit with a lean athletes body.

"Yeah I don't know where the church got the idea that he was that skinny. But what can you do? Also did you know that the name Christ is derived from the Greek word Christos?"

"No. I don't think I know that word yet. What does it mean?"

"It means 'to be anointed'." Adamos explained. "The definition of anointed is to be smeared in oil in a religious ceremony or be given a divine office."

"So, his name is Jesus the oily?" I say with humor in my voice.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up. The reason I had him named that was that I hoped Athena would be able to help him while he was trying to fix the utter embarrassment of a civilization that was the Roman Empire."

"Why would she help him?" I asked confused.

"Because Athena gave the Athenians the olive tree when she and dad were fighting over the city of Athens." Adamos said with a smirk. "You should have seen how pissed off dad and Zeus were when they found out that Athena and I pulled a fast one over on them. I managed to convince dad to throw the contest and give them a saltwater spring rather than a stable of pegasi, and Athena convinced Zeus to actually swallow his ego and ask me to help sway the votes." Adamos's smile turned into a full-blown smirk. "Those two were so pissed at us that Dad nearly destroyed the city out of spite if Athena and I hadn't had the mortals build shrines to him throughout the city state."

"You really like screwing with people, don't you?" I asked in more of a statement rather than a question.

"It's one of my greatest joys in life." Adamos laughs. "All right onto the next photo." He says joyously.

"So, if those were Jesus and Arthur," I say as I look over the picture of the woman with the battle standard. "Then this must be Jeanne D'Arc."

"Right. She was symbol for the French army at such a young age." Adamos spoke and the look in his eyes grew somber and melancholic. Like they had aged centuries in just a moment before regaining that proud look in his eyes. "And I can never be prouder of each of them."

"Hey Adamos?" I didn't know if I should ask this question. "How come you have so few kids compared to other gods?"

Adamos's smile fell slightly and now seemed a bit forced. He lets out a huff and folds his arms over his chest. A habit of self-comfort I think.

"Other than trying to be as faithful of a husband that I can?" Adamos says sarcastically but there's a bit of bitterness in his voice. "My mortal children tend to die as martyrs. The vastness of my domains makes my children powerful and I guess they all inherit my ability to stand out spectacularly in a group." He lets out a hollow laugh. "I myself was never too much of a follower and I guess that they all inherited that part from me. I do try to help them as much as I can, but I could only do so much."

I didn't even think, my body just reacted on its own as I pulled him into a hug.

"Woah Percy. What's—ah, what's going on?" Adamos asks as he puts his hands on my shoulders.

"Nothing. Just—felt like this was needed." I said as I broke away, but I see that Adamos was no longer forcing the smile on his face which is enough for me. Only to regret trying to comfort him a moment later.

"Aww are you so lonely you have to hug me." He says in a teasing voice and a smirk.

"Just—shut up asshole." I turn away from him. "Any ways who are they?" I point to a picture of Adamos with two younger girls, trying to change the attention away from me.

"Those are my daughters." Adamos said with a fond look on his face. "Born during the end of the Titanomachy. The only immortal children that I have. I don't really know what they're doing at the moment, but I'm sure they are out there safe."

"What ever happened to the whole faithful husband thing?" I ask with a smirk.

"I wasn't married then idiot. And Athena wasn't even born yet."

"Cough—cradle robber—Cough,"

"Oh? You got something to say Percy?" Adamos said with a sickeningly sweet smile.

I just returned the smile back to him. "Just trying to clear my throat. But how did you ever have kids during a war."

"You'd be surprised how easily people go at it." He said and I felt a shiver as I didn't want to think about that.

"So, who are their mom's?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Nyx and Thalassa." He said offhandedly.

"_Nyx and Thalassa." _ I thought over and over again. I knew I had heard those names some where before. _"Nyx and Thalassa."_ Then it clicked.

"Aren't they primordials?!" I shouted in shock. "Like all powerful rulers of their domains. Stronger than gods, primordials."

"Thanks, professor, for the enlightening lesson." Adamos said sarcastically. "Yeah they are. What of it?"

"How did you seduce them?" I tried to wrap my head around it. I learned in one of the classes for mythology that Chiron taught that primordials rarely give themselves a physical form in the mortal world and even then, they spend millennia in deep sleep, so they rarely interact with gods as well.

"Firstly, Nyx came to me. That woman has a thing for powerful men." He says with pride. "And secondly, I never actually knew Thalassa. Never even met the woman." He said with a shrug.

"Wait…Then how…? I'm so confused right now. How do you have a baby without meeting the mother."

"You gotta learn that when it comes to the mythological world, anything is possible. I mean, Adonis was born from a tree."

"So how did you have a child if you weren't with her." I asked.

"Hmmm." Adamos rubbed his chin in thought. "You know I think that this would be a good time to tell you about the three quests I took during the Titanomachy."

"But what about my question?"

"Trust me. They have to do with these quests." Adamos then walked out of the room with me following. He turned and walked up the stairs and to the third floor and to a random room with a large screen and a projector. A large couch was facing it and, in the corner, seemed to be a concession stand.

"Is this…"

"A media room?" Adamos finished my sentence and I just confirmed with a halfhearted nod as I still looked around. "Yes, it is. The T.V. downstairs is nice, but this room is built for nothing but entertainment."

I felt a slight bit of jealousy at how cool the room is. I mean I wish that I could afford something like this but sadly I barley get much of an allowance.

"Help yourself to whatever while I set this up." Adamos said as he started to look through a box.

"Isn't this my mind?" I ask as I grab a bag of popcorn and a cherry coke. "Can't you just snap your fingers and magically put it up." I munch on a few pieces of popcorn, the kind with extra butter.

"I mean I could." Adamos says, not looking at me as he puts a disc into the projector. "But where's the fun in that?" The projector takes the disc and closes with an audible—click—sound. "All right movie time." Adamos said excitedly as he plopped down on the couch and grabbed the remote and turned the projector on. Then an image of a warning showed on the white screen wall. It was sorta like the ones you see in theaters that give a warning about the movies contents, although this on didn't have any kind of PG or PG-13 rating. I then noticed a glaring problem, or at least an annoyance.

"Can you close the blinds. The suns messing with the projection." I pointed out that half of the screen was messed up by the sun outside.

"Why don't you just turn it off." Adamos said.

"What?"

"Just turn the sun off Percy." Adamos said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I gave him a look of serious disbelief at which he rolled his eyes. "Mindscape man. Just imagine the sun turning off."

"Ok…" I muttered and shut my eyes. I tried to concentrate on the sun turning of but after a few moments nothing seemed to happen when I opened my eyes.

"Try thinking of one of those clapper light switches." Adamos suggested and once again I closed my eyes.

Clap-Clap

I opened my eyes and found that outside was night, except there weren't any stars. "Woah." I whispered and then I clapped my hands again.

Clap-Clap

Then the sun came back on.

Clap-Clap

Clap-Clap

Clap-Clap

Clap-Clap

This kinda went on longer than it should have as I messed around with the sun until Adamos cleared his throat. "As amusing as it is to watch you play around with the sun, I would like to get started."

A light heat spreads through my cheeks in embarrassment. "Sorry." I say with a small laugh and clap my hands once more to turn the sun off.

The movie begins to start and for some reason it scrolls across trailers for a bunch of movies that I had never even heard of being made. Movies like Avatar, a movie about blue cat people, Zombie land, a zombie movie, and Inglorious Basterds, a Nazi movie. "What's with all of these movies?" I ask as I take a sip of a large cherry coke.

"Just a bunch of movies that I helped mortals think of. If they follow the work schedule that I have planned out than these movies should be out in theatres by 2009."

"Will any of them be good?" I ask.

"Definitely." He said and then I watched as the trailers ended and the screen went to black.

* * *

The screen then light up and it showed a group of people all standing around a table arguing. Everyone seemed to be speaking all at once so I couldn't really make out what they were saying until the shot became closer to see the group clearly. Around the table were the six eldest gods, except that they looked so much younger. Zeus didn't have any grey in his hair, Dad had younger features and his face was cleanly shaven. Hades actually had a healthy tone to his skin, well, healthy-ish as he was still paler than those present, but not as pale as now. Hera had a warm and concerned look in her eyes rather than the cold look she had on Olympus. Demeter actually looked the same, except that she had shorter hair. The last one was Hestia in her adult form, albeit a few years younger, and her hair was far longer than it was now, reaching to her mid back, and while her eyes still held the same warmth in them, there was an almost unnoticeable undertone of something being barely held back that would certainly not be good for anyone if it were unleashed. There was another woman in the group that I had never seen before, and yet she looked very familiar.

In the corner of the screen I saw a small shadow moving about, watching the group. The shape was obviously humanoid but the lighting and the fact that its back was turned wasn't helping in the slightest.

"We need to strike now." Zeus spoke with a tense edge in his voice. "The titans still haven't gathered much of their forces; they are barely even considering us a threat and that arrogance can be used."

"We cannot go on the offensive brother." Hades spoke with authority and a glare, as if this conversation had been hashed multiple times before. "We don't have the necessary support to fight this war. We must be patient if we are to succeed."

"And how patient must we be!" Zeus growled; his voice rose with each word. "It has been five years since I retrieved you from father's stomach and in that time, we haven't achieved anything!"

Demeter rolled her eyes at the younger Zeus. "And you never let us forget it." She muttered but it was loud enough that Zeus still heard her, and he responded with a glare. Demeter just huffed and rested her head on her hand and lazily had her elbows on the table.

The unknown woman rested her hand on Zeus's shoulder. Her honey blonde hair fell straight down past her shoulders, its shine only highlighted by the simple grey toga that she was wearing. She gave him a reassuring smile. "Maybe we can do something else." She suggested. "We do not the necessary forces to launch an attack on the titans, but that doesn't mean we can't do anything to them indirectly."

"And what would you be suggesting Metis?" Hestia asked with a knowing smile on her face.

"Well, I know that a certain little sneak," The know identified Metis says and the humanoid stiffens slightly before pushing itself further into the shadows. "knows quite a bit about poisons and curses. If we can spoil their tributes and food than we can raid their shrines and armory's while they are incapacitated. "Do you think you can help us with that Adamos?" Metis asks the shadows and a young Adamos steps out into the light and all the other gods and goddesses, sans Hestia, look over at him.

Adamos looked to be a few years older than me. Most likely 15 or 16 years old but was probably much younger as gods physically age differently. He was almost a half head shorter than any of the male gods and wore a simple chiton and sandals, but you could see the well-toned physique clearly. His eyes darted around at everything and he scratched the back of his head as he chuckled.

He was clearly nervous.

"Adamos?" Poseidon asked. "What are you doing here? I told you to wait until I returned."

"I'm sorry father. I just…wanted to see how I could help." Adamos said.

* * *

I looked away from the screen and towards the present version of the god on the screen, "Not exactly the picture of self-confidence, were you?"

"Tensions were super high at the time. Sometimes I just wondered if they would just break out into a fight between themselves." He simply spoke, not taking his eyes off the screen.

* * *

"They day that we need to rely on a child to win the war is a day that I dread." Zeus said with distaste. I turned back to the screen to continue watching.

Young Adamos furrowed his brows and the shyness fell away. "Last I checked you weren't much older than me when you played the fool for the titans."

Zeus's head snapped to Adamos and I swore that there were bolts of electricity sparking between the two. "Now, now." Hera intervened with a stern look at the two of them. "We can't afford to be picky with who can help us."

"Indeed, you cannot child." A smooth female voice echoed through the cave. The voice was comforting and tender. "As you are you will not have a chance in this war of yours." The sudden appearance of the voice caused everyone present to jump up with whatever weapons they had on them pulled out. Adamos didn't have anything and just grabbed a heavy stick nearby.

"I still don't see why we need them." Another voice spoke, this one was deep and gruff, sounding like waves crashing against the shore.

"Oh, come on." A third feminine voice said, the voice sounded melodic. "It could be fun to watch them try to succeed."

"I still rather do it myself." The male huffed.

"And I told you no. You agreed to the proposal and you'll go by it." The first voice scolded.

"Don't ignore us!" Zeus roared as he looked around for the owner of the voice but didn't find anyone. "Show yourself!"

"This one has a temper." The third voice said.

"A trait he seems to have inherited from his father I suppose." The first voice said, and I could hear a subtle tone of disappointment in her tone.

"You dare mock me!" Zeus's face grows redder at the blatant insults to his character.

"Indeed, we do. Its so much fun to tease." The third voice says with a giggle. Then the room is plunged into darkness. Even the light from the torches is diminished to the point that they seem barely alight. Then the shadows recede as soon as they came. And an unknown woman stood just a ways away from the head of the table, her body seemed to radiate raw power. Her hair was pitch black and seemed to absorb the light around her. Her face was perfectly beautiful and could easily be considered Aphrodite's equal. Her eyes resembled quasars and swirled in the most hypnotizing way. The chiton that she wore seemed to be made of the night sky itself as it shimmered and swirled.

The woman looked between all those that were assembled. Each of the gods and goddesses had slightly strained looks on their faces as they seemed to be battling some invisible weight on their shoulders. The woman looks at each of them and she see's the looks of apprehension on their faces, the desire to retreat from this threat that seems to be able to be able to overpower them with her mere presence. She smirks at their expressions, that is until her eyes travel to the youngest of the group. But oddly he wasn't where he was supposed to be. Where Adamos was once off to the side of the group, he was now standing protectively in front of Metis. There were sparks of fear in his eyes, but those were overshadowed by the look of determined protectiveness.

The smirk on her face drops and one of her brows raise as I see her analyzing the young Adamos. The only one to move out of all present, and the only one who seemed prepared to fight, and with a stick no less.

"I think that is enough Nyx." The first voice scolded, making the now named Nyx pout.

"N-Nyx?" Hades said nervously. "The primordial goddess of the night."

"The one and only." She said with a smile and a flourish of her hand. Immediately, all the gods dropped into a bow. All accept Adamos, who either because he didn't know who Nyx was, some form of pride that made him refuse, or even just that he didn't seem to trust her. He didn't immediately bow. This didn't go unnoticed by the primordial as he reluctantly bowed under her gaze when the other gods sent him pleading looks.

"Must you needlessly torment them?" The first voice said as the stones on the ground piled together till, they took the form of a person before falling away, leaving an equally gorgeous woman. Where Nyx had pale skin, she had smooth caramel colored skin. Her black hair fell in waves down her back and she wore elegant forest green robes that were dabbled in gold and white that seemed to shine like sunlight despite the lack of light. Her eyes were a vibrant green with bits of blue in them, almost as if I was viewing the earth from space.

"If they can't even stand against this much than what use can they be?" The gruff voice spoke, and torrents of raging water erupted from the ground until it formed a rather large man. His body was built with large, heavy muscles that spoke of raw strength. His skin was a dark cocoa shade and seemed to have the appearance of smooth leather. His bald head was adorned with tattoos of waves that actually moved. His face was set in a slight scowl, one which was only slightly hidden by his black beard. The man's eyes were a deep oceanic blue that seemed to get darker the closer to the iris you looked.

"Come on Pontus. Give them a chance." Nyx said sweetly to Pontus, though the smile seemed more like the kind that said, 'You ruin my new toys I'll ruin you.' "Gaia went through all the trouble of convincing us to ask them so we can't just disregard them yet."

"Fine." Pontus grumbled.

"Um-My Lord and Ladies," Hestia spoke softly and all three primordials turned to her. As she rose her head only slightly, I could see that she seemed nervous and seemingly on the verge of being terrified. "Might I ask what it is you are here for?"

"Yes, certainly my dear." Gaia said in a comforting maternal tone that only a mother could. This seemed to be the case as her words seemed to ease the gods somewhat.

"Are you here to kill us?" Adamos suddenly spoke up as he lifted his head completely. The other gods looked fearfully between the boy and the primordials as it seemed that the question and the way it was asked would be seen as disrespectful to such powerful beings. But Adamos held his gaze, undeterred by the fact that these three could kill him in an instant.

* * *

"I was a real dumbass back then." Adamos spoke from my side. "I had no idea who I was actually dealing with at the time." He shakes his head as he looks at his younger self's actions.

* * *

"Are you trying to kill us all boy!?" Zeus whispered. "Lady Gaia. We deeply apologize for the boys insolence. He is quite foo—" But Zeus was cut off when Gaia raised her hand.

"Why do you ask that godling?" Gaia said inquisitively. Their eyes locked on each other and the amount of power in her eyes was enough to make me flinch just from the recording. But young Adamos didn't back down. He kept his gaze without wavering.

"Because you love your children." He spoke firmly. "And we are trying to overthrow them."

Silence prevailed for a what seemed like eternity. The two just stared at each other with an intensity that could spark a fire. Then like a snap it vanished as Gaia smiled at Adamos. "And that my dear child is why we will help you."

"You will?" Adamos asked, now seemingly confused along with the rest of the gods.

"Yes. I have watched what has happened and I can say that I am…less than pleased with my son." Gaia said with a disapproving voice.

"And why would you be so displeased with the titan lord?" Poseidon asked. "We know that you deeply love your children, so this is greatly confusing."

Gaia let out a small sigh. "Kronos has become far too much like his father for my liking and I fear for my other children what will happen. I had originally helped him usurp my husband so that his siblings, the cyclops and hecatoncheires, may be free from the prisons that Ouranos put them in. It is only recently that I find that Kronos has returned them back to their jails."

"And not only that but he and his siblings have been pissing us off too!" Nyx interjected suddenly. Pontus just gave a grunt of agreement.

"Yes…" Gaia gave Nyx a scathing look for cutting her off, but the primordial of night didn't seem the least bit apologetic. "And as I was saying. Kronos has been interfering with the domains of others at his leisure."

"Well Pontus and I were originally just going to drag all the titans to the deepest abyss we could find and chuck them in, or maybe make them fight to the death and let one leave." Nyx said disappointedly.

"And I told you Nyx, that was not going to happen." Gaia said with a tense edge in her voice. To which Nyx smirked at her.

"Gaia managed to convince us to get you to fix our problems for us instead. You do that, we help you with your crap." Pontus spoke up with all the tact and subtly as a brick through a window, interrupting what could have potentially escalated into a brawl between two primordials.

"And what kind of help are you offering?" Adamos asked and Pontus's seemingly permanent scowl deepened slightly.

"Are you questioning me boy." He growled.

"No, he isn't my lord." Hades said quickly and rushed over to Adamos and smacked him in the back of the head, hard enough to earn an indignant 'OW!' from the godling. "He just wants to be properly informed." He tried to amend, all the while ignoring Adamos's scowl in his direction.

"Well as Pontus has said." Gaia decided to play mediator. "We will aid you in your war as best we can. We cannot fight for you as Ancient laws prevent us, but we can give you the best chance at victory if you complete three tasks for us."

"And what will these three tasks be?" Metis asked respectively, choosing to speak for the first time since the three primordials arrived.

"Whatever order that you choose to do these doesn't matter." Nyx waved offhandedly. "All that matters is that you make it entertaining for me." She broke out into an amused smile as the two other primordials just sighed at her antics.

Gaia shook her head. "Regardless of how you choose to accomplish these tasks," She stopped Nyx from saying anything with a look. "We just wish for them to be done. Now the task that I offer you is to slay the Pitanian Drakon." At the task the gods looked a bit uneasy and shifted back and forth.

* * *

"What's the Pitanian Drakon?" I ask Adamos as I turn away from the movie.

Adamos pauses the film and looks at me. "It was a massive serpent that could almost rival Python with its size. The difference was that this beast secreted a deadly poison from its mouth that just the fumes could kill a mortal. Imagine what would happen if it injected the poison in you." Adamos said seriously and I shuddered at the thought. "Didn't help that the damn thing's mere presence was enough to kill all-natural wildlife within a half mile radius."

"That sounds horrify." I whispered.

"Oh, believe me. It was. I still don't even know how that damn thing was born. I did ask Gaia about it and she just said that it appeared one day. No reason or explanation. Just boom! It's there."

"I think I'm gonna run if I ever come across it." I say as I stuff more popcorn into my mouth.

"Smart boy." Adamos said and then resumed the film.

* * *

"My quest is next." Nyx chirped. "You have to capture the Primal Phoenix for me." Nyx's beautiful face then scrunched up in distaste. "That overgrown chicken's been flying around on fire every day ever since that brat Hyperion managed to tame it."

* * *

I gave Adamos a look. "The primal of a species means that they are the one of the oldest of their kind and more often than not also one of the most powerful."

* * *

"You gotta steal something for me from Oceanus." Pontus spoke in his gruff tone. "He has it locked in some vault in the deepest parts of his kingdom. I don't give a damn how you get it, just make damn sure that it's in pristine condition when you retrieve it." He ended with a glare.

"I think that we all agree we can agree to fulfill these tasks My Lord and Ladies." Hades spoke warily and looked around to see that the other gods were all nodding reluctantly.

"Actually, only one of you will be doing these tasks." Nyx spoke eagerly. This caught all the gods off guard and even the other two primordials were giving her a questioning look. "And the one to do them will be him." She says pointing at Adamos.

"What!" Adamos shot up from his bow. "Why only me?"

"You can't be serious!?" Poseidon roared.

"Yes Nyx? Why just him?" Gaia asked.

Nyx's smile grew as if she knew a secret that no one else knew. "Because you'll never be able to do these tasks otherwise. If you all go than the titans will all surely go after you. But him?" Nyx jabs her thumb at Adamos. "The only titans that know he exists are his mother and half-sister. He's the only one of you that can travel freely without worry." Nyx smirks as the gods are silent to her reasoning. None can retort the truth in her statement as with so many gods traveling together it wouldn't be long until they were noticed.

"When would you like these done?" Adamos asked quietly.

Poseidon looked over to his son in shock. "Adamos you don't need to do this." He seemingly begged.

"We can find another way." Hera tried to reason, her face a mask of worry.

"No, I…I need to do this." Adamos said adamantly. "If I can help you all I will try."

"Ohh. I like him." Nyx squealed excitedly. "He has fire in his eyes." Adamos blushed profusely as Nyx seemed to be unashamedly undressing him with her eyes. "And he's pretty cute." And like that Adamos was a as red as a tomato.

"I—um—its." Adamos sputters at the primordial before just deciding to shut up and look away.

"Leave the poor boy alone Nyx." Gaia reprimanded. "We'll never get anywhere at this rate if you continue to tease him."

"Fine." She said with a pout.

"Gather your things boy." Pontus spoke. His expression showing that he no longer wished to be here and wanted to leave as soon as possible. "You will leave as soon as you are ready." And with that he disappeared in a pillar of water.

"That man is such a brute." Nyx huffed and then turned to Adamos and walked closer to him. She stroked his cheek with a slender, delicate finger in a way that sent a shiver through his body. "I will be waiting for you little hero." She whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. Then she stepped back and vanished in a pool of shadows.

Gaia pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation before turning to the gods. "If you succeed, know that the rewards will be well received." She focused her attention on Adamos and gave him a reassuring smile. "I wish you the best of luck child." She then crumbled into dirt and dust.

Immediately all the gods stood at up, their bodies filled with tension and nervousness, yet no one spoke. The silence seemed to eat up the entire space and the gods only just looked at each other and mostly Adamos with nervous looks.

It was Demeter however that broke the silence. "What's a Hero?"

**A/N: Okay I know that this is really late. And honestly, I have a sorta good reason for it. I've been binge reading and watching the Bleach anime and its stories on Fanfiction. It's a great series when I read the entire manga, but it does leave a few plot points unresolved and some of the history is a bit shallow in places. I've been writing out two separate drafts of two stories for a PJOXBleach crossover(Not that I know if I'll ever write it) But it's been fun to think of Arrancar Percy vs Ichigo. Maybe call the chapter Protector vs. Destroyer. Anyways I'm still alive and we learn a little bit more about Adamos today. As for the what's a Hero line. That's because this is happening so long ago that humans are little more than cave people at this point and the concept of a hero hasn't been invented. Anyways keep staying sexy everyone.**

**Momentei, Over and out**


	23. Chapter 22: Movie Night II

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts **

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 22**

**Movie Night II: The Infernal Boogaloo **

The screen opens up to most of the gods gathered outside of the cave the reside. A very worried Hera and Poseidon, and slightly less worried Hestia, were all checking over the young Adamos. Hades was just watching with amusement from the side.

"Do you have everything you need? Extra clothes? Food? Sword? Bow? Arrows? Map?" Hera speaks quickly as she rifles through his things for the umpteenth time. Her face a mask of worry as she inspects him.

"Remember son." Poseidon says as watches Hera work. "If it's too difficult to handle you can always come back. We can find another solution."

Adamos's brow twitches with irritation. "Really feeling the votes of confidence from you all." He says with a fake smile.

Hestia pokes him hard in the forehead, earning a small 'Ow' and a mock glare from the godling. "We have every right to be worried about you." She says. "Your going out on your own to do things that none of us have ever tried." The hearth goddess frowns. "There is no way for us to help you other than this."

"We're just worried." Hera speaks.

Adamos's face shifts to a solemn frown. "I know, I'm sorry. It's just… I know that I can do this. I just need you to trust me."

"Oh, they do." Hades speaks up. "I know that I trust you. They are just horrible at reigning in their mother hen tendencies."

"Who are you calling a mother hen?" Poseidon shouts indignantly.

"You, you idiot. With how much your smothering the boy, you might have to known as the god of blankets." Hades mocks with a smirk. Poseidon grits his teeth, the sound of the two goddesses giggling shuts him up and he just turns away with a huff. Most likely to plan something to get back at his brother later.

Adamos laughs and Poseidon looks to his son with a look of betrayal before he smirks. "Well Poseidon, God of the Bedroom, does sound like an appropriate title. Seeing as I'm the only one of us with any romantic experience." He says. "And the proof is standing right in front of you."

Both Hades and Adamos end up speechless, Hera was sporting a blush, and Hestia was just breaking down in laughter.

"Father!" Adamos shouts, his face turned the same shade as a tomato from embarrassment "Don't use me as some sort of trophy!"

"But it's true isn't it? You were born because your mother and I were deeply attracted to each other." Poseidon smirks.

Somehow Adamos's face goes even redder and now all the immortals, minus him, are laughing. "Nope. Noooppppeee. I am not listening to this. Screw goodbyes! I'm leaving right now!"

Adamos turns to leave before they can embarrass him any further, but he stops when a hand grabs him by the wrist. "They are only teasing you. There is no need to take it so seriously." Hestia says softly, though her eyes still held the mirth from a moment ago.

Adamos lets out a huff and turns back to face the other gods. Poseidon walks up and gives his son a mighty hug. "Just know my son." He speaks softly. "You will succeed. I know you will."

"Thanks dad." He says quietly, but the sentiment wasn't lost as a he sports a small smile.

"Make sure you stay safe." Hera spoke kindly. She came forward and engulfed him in a tight embrace. "You'll get through this. I know you can."

As she stepped back Hades came forward. He didn't hug Adamos or say any words. Instead the two them just shook hands. A smile on both of their faces.

"Adamos," Hestia spoke softly. Her eyes filled with warmth and that same comforting smile was present. "Just know that we all have the utmost faith in you. We know you won't let us down." She holds out a hand and in it is a small necklace with a tiny flame in the center. "Something help you along the way."

Adamos gave a genuine smile as he looked over the four immortals in front of him. He stepped forward and gave them all a hug all at once, staying there for a few moments before ending the embrace. "Thank you all. I'll be back before you know it and with a few stories to tell."

"I'll hold you to that." Poseidon said bemusedly. Then without another word Adamos left the group, leaving the safety of the cave that the gods made their home for years and out into the world.

It didn't take long until Adamos walked to the shore of where he lived and found a raft awaiting him at the shore. It wasn't anything to write home about, but it did seem sturdy enough to handle the waves of the open seas. After a few days out at sea he managed to reach the shores of what would become Sparta.

"If Crete is here…" Adamos mused as he looks at the map in his hands as he sat on the beach. The raft pulled ashore as it no longer had much purpose. "Then the primordials said that their quests would be… here… here…and here." He talks as he works, marking down different places on the map. A circle was drawn towards the top of the map, near what would be Macedonia, the next was in the middle of the ocean, and the last was on the north east corner of the map near the future city of troy. "I guess I can make this a round trip." He muttered "If I really push it, I might be able to make the distance up north in a four days."

Packing up his map and shouldering his belongings, Adamos did a few stretches for his legs. He set himself into a running position and a slight haze surrounds his body and a barely visible glow emits from the bottoms of his feet. In a split second he blurs out of existence and reappears much further along the coast. About one hundred meters or so.

* * *

"What was that?" I asked with my mouth open. "There was a swish and a blur and then you just…What was that?"

Adamos looked over at me with a smirk. "I don't think I ever gave the ability a name. The best way to describe it would be like those high-speed movements you see in anime like dragon ball and bleach."

"So what? You can just move to fast for people to hit you?" I ask. The ability looked super cool and I could already see how cool it would be to upstage the Hermes campers in a foot race.

"In a way." Adamos shrugs. "The, I'm just gonna call it star step, is something that allows me to move fast enough that I am just a bit slower than Hermes. At long as it's a straight-line dash"

"That sounds overpowered."

"You'd think so but there are some drawbacks." He explained.

"Like what?" I asked curiously.

"Well, for one thing sharp turns are a bitch. Not impossible, but insanely difficult along with a huge loss of speed. And if you're not careful with your spatial awareness, you'll probably hit something face first." He explained as he pointed at the paused screen.

"Is there any way I can do it?" I asked excitedly but that was slowly stripped away at Adamos's look of apprehension.

"It's… not that I can't teach you." He spoke warily. "But I don't think that you'd be able to pull it off. Aside from motion sickness, I don't know if your body could handle the strain."

"We won't know if we don't try." I try to reason but the look on his face didn't inspire confidence and all I got was a muttered 'Maybe' in response.

* * *

The young godling was moving at incredible speeds through the forest, reappearing for a brief moment before disappearing in a faint blur of light. There was barely even a sound heard when his feet touched the ground and he took off again, and to anyone that was present they wouldn't see a thing unless they were looking really hard or had godly senses to see the blur that went past them.

This allowed Adamos to bypass quite a few threats along his way as lesser monsters didn't even know he was present until they heard a sudden shift in the wind, but by then he was already gone. He had even scared the crap out of a hell hound as he flicked its ear as he passed.

Thanks to his godly stamina it wasn't till a couple days later that Adamos was forced to stop, his body dripping with sweat and his breathing incredibly labored. As the sun had long since passed the high point of noon and was beginning to dip towards the edge of the horizon, Adamos noticed something was off. When normally the sky would turn to a series of dark purples and oranges at sunset, most of the sky was a bright blue that it had normally been all day.

"What the Tartarus is going on?" He mutters as he scratches the back of his sweaty head. He looks north at where the brightness originates from. "That can't be from the phoenix."

"Oh, but it is." A soft sultry voice whispers directly into Adamos's ear.

The sudden sound into the young god's ear sends him into a panic and acting on instinct rather than reason star steps into a random direction. "Ow." He groans as the random direction he tries to go to get away is directly into a tree.

* * *

I hold in a laugh as he hits the tree and I swear I could feel Adamos's glare next to me.

* * *

"Ahahahaha." The feminine voice laughs loudly as Adamos forces himself to get up. He looks up to find Nyx, now doubled over in fits of laughter.

A heavy blush of embarrassment spreads across his face. "You done laughing at me?" He says heatedly at the laughing goddess.

"Oh—oh yeah. I think I'm done." The primordial goddess says between gasps of air.

"Alright good. Now. Why are you here." Adamos asks with a glare.

"You know it's quite disrespectful to speak to a primordial goddess that way." Nyx speaks as she composes herself.

"Oh, my apologies." Adamos says with a bit of sarcasm. "Lady Nyx, might I ask, what the Tartarus are you doing scaring me half to death!" Adamos says and with each word his voice gets a bit louder.

Nyx stays silent as she studies the godling in front of her with a critical eye. Each second that passes by under her gaze makes Adamos shrink into himself a little more internally as his irritation fades away. Then just when the tension reaches a high point, Nyx breaks it. "I'm just here to watch you do your quests." She says with a shrug.

"W—why?" Adamos asks, confusion on his face.

"What better way to watch my entertainment than to be there in person, duh." She says like it's the most obvious answer.

"If this is just for entertainment, do you even care about the quest?" Adamos asks with a raised brow. He didn't know how quests were supposed to go, but he was pretty sure that the quest giver wasn't supposed to follow him around for 'entertainment' purposes.

"Of course, I care." Nyx says as she pouts and folds her arms under her generous chest, clearly miffed by his questioning of her. This causing scene of the beautiful goddess makes Adamos to blush and actively resist the urge to look down. Nyx looks over at the young man she's conversing with and smirks a little, the kind of smirk that a prankster would have.

"That troublesome bird has been flying around like a second sun. It's been cutting down on the night cycle of the world and in return effecting me." She says as she takes slow sultry steps towards Adamos, her arms still under her breasts and greatly emphasizing her cleavage. She stops right in front of him and looks up as the young god actually a good half head taller than her mortal size. "I need you to catch it for me." She whispers as she leans forward. Adamos caught slightly off guard tries to back away but is caught when Nyx's hands grab the cloth of his chiton.

"Do you think you can do this for me?" She asks, her voice barely above a whisper as her face inches closer to his. Adamos tries to resist but the woman seemed much stronger than she looked, and he was trapped. As soon as he looked into her eyes, which were swirling like nebulas, his eyes glaze slightly, and his hands take purchase on her narrow waist as he get lost in the moment with the perfect looking woman in front of him. "If you do. I will make it worth your while." She speaks softly as both their lips were close enough that they could feel each other's breath.

"Of course." He whispers huskily as he closes the distance between the two of them. "I won't let you down."

"See. I knew I could count on you!" Nyx chirps happily as she bursts into shadows and reforms a few feet away from Adamos. The young god still in the position of the near kiss, blinks his eyes after a brief second before he realizes what just happened.

"Wha—what was that!?" He shouts as his face turns beet red. Nyx has a hand over her mouth as she begins to laugh at the flustered and embarrassed godling. Adamos on the other hand looks like he wants nothing more than to disappear as he tries to hide his blush with his hand. "Stop laughing!" He shouts, "It's not funny!"

"Your right it isn't funny. It's hilarious!" She further breaks down into laughter.

* * *

"Girl troubles." I cheekily say to Adamos. He doesn't respond but instead just sends me a scowl and flips me the bird.

* * *

"You don't just do all of that and then just leave them hanging!" Adamos yells at Nyx who is still laughing.

"But you should have seen your face." She says between each laugh. "It's just so cute when your flustered."

"Fuck it! I'm done. You can leave." He shouts in exasperation as he begins to dig through his bag of things.

"Oh, Ada. Don't be like that." She tries to soothe him. "It's just a bit of teasing. No real harm there."

Adamos doesn't pay her any attention and just gives a 'hmph' as he works on setting camp for the night and pulling out some dried meats, cheese, bread, and other assorted foods he had for travel and munching on them vigorously.

"Ada." Nyx speaks playfully. "Come on Ada. Talk to me." When it seems like he is just going to continue to ignore her, Nyx has a look that seems as if she has an idea. "Ada. Would you talk to me if I give you some nectar and ambrosia?" Nyx says tauntingly as she summons a plate of the godly food to her hand. This gets a reaction out of Adamos as he straightens slightly. Nyx grins as she sees that she's gotten his attention.

"It's too much for me to eat all on my own. I'd be willing to share with you if you give me some company." And like a switch Adamos's will crumbles and he takes a piece of the ambrosia and stuffs it into his mouth.

"Don't even say it." He says with a glare, but the primordial goddess doesn't stop giving him a huge grin. The two of them say nothing as they fall into a decently comfortable silence as they eat.

"So, Lady Nyx," Adamos starts to speak, but is cut off when Nyx waves him off.

"Just Nyx is fine." She gives him a friendly smile. "We both know that you don't mean it when you refer to me as Lady."

"You certainly don't act like a lady." He mutters which earns him a swat to the back of the head by the offended goddess. "Ow."

"And you don't know how to treat a lady." She huffs.

"I totally know how to. You just don't seem like someone who cares so why bother." He shrugs as he takes a drink of nectar.

"Oh?" She says with a raised brow. "You have some decent observation skill Ada. And honestly? Your right. This is actually a breath of fresh air compared to all the groveling that usually goes on when I show up somewhere."

"Why'd you call me that?"

"Call you what?"

"Ada. You keep calling me Ada." Adamos points out, his gaze questioning the woman.

"It's just a nickname. There's no need to question everything I do you know." She waves off.

"Ada." Adamos tests out the name for himself, and briefly smiled. "I think I like that. Sorry I can't give you one. Nyx isn't exactly able to get any shorter."

"Don't worry about it." She says with a smile. "So, tell me," She asks, leaning closer. "How exactly are you going to deal with the phoenix?"

"I'm going to take my bow." He stated simply. "And I'm going to shoot it."

Nyx blinked twice. "That's it? That's all you have?" She asked in disbelief. "Your just gonna shoot it?"

"Unless you got another way to hunt birds." Adamos looks at her with a raised brow.

"Ok," Nyx drawls as she looks in thought. "Tell me what you know about phoenix's"

Now Adamos was looking even more confused. "Uhm, they're flaming birds and they are reborn when they die."

"Flaming birds that set everything within a five-foot radius on fire." She puts the emphasis on the word fire.

"If you know so much about them, why don't you tell me how to do this." Adamos huffed in exasperation.

"Now cutey." Nyx purrs and boops him on the nose, causing the godling to blush profusely. "I can't give you all the answers. Otherwise I'd be doing this myself."

"Then why don't you?"

"Because that'd be work and I find it more fun to watch others try and fail." She speaks with an excited tone.

"Glad to see that you have so much faith in me after YOU volunteered me for this alone." Adamos gives a deadpan look at the woman.

"Oh, don't be like that." She placates. "I've got a good feeling you'll succeed. And I'm gonna be with you the entire way to watch." She smiles at him.

"Oh? Well if you're gonna be with me the entire time than you can keep first watch. Might as well sleep if I can since you're here." He says with a smirk.

"Wh—I will do no such thing." She resists.

"Really?" Adamos challenges. "Because you just said that you'll be traveling with me so you gotta pull your own weight. Those are the rules for following me."

"Who do you think you are to order me around?" Nyx shouts back.

"I'm just the guy that you made go on a dangerous quest alone for your own amusement. And if I'm going to succeed like you want, I'm gonna need all the rest I can get." Adamos says knowingly. "I mean, unless you want me to fail and that bird to keep flying around." He gives the goddess a smug look as she turns away, making his grin widen.

"Just shut up and go to sleep." Nyx huffs.

"I think I will. Tonight's beautiful and camping is always better with good company." Adamos says as he lays down and uses his bag as a makeshift pillow.

As Adamos lays down, Nyx turns slightly and gives him a soft genuine smile. "Thank you." She whispers, and if the small smile on his face is anything to go by, Adamos heard it.

* * *

"So," I turn to Adamos. "You and she are really hitting it off." I give him a grin and wiggle my brows.

He rolls his eyes at me. "Don't worry Percy," He says with a smirk. "One day you'll be able to get a girl to like you that isn't your mom."

"Wha—People like me." I respond indignantly. "I could totally get a girl to like me. Stop giving me that look!" I shout as Adamos looks at me with a look of pity and amusement. I just sit back into my seat and DEFINITELY didn't pout.

* * *

After that first night the scene just fast forwarded as Adamos and Nyx chose to walk the rest of the way north. They talked about completely random things and every once in a while, Nyx would do something to fluster Adamos. Like one time when Adamos was talking to a few tree nymphs about the phoenix, Nyx came up behind him and held his arm close to her body and insisted that he belonged to her. His face went red as even the nymphs blushed at how possessive the primordial goddess was being of him. Even going so far as to give him a kiss on the cheek, and I swore that I saw steam coming from off his head.

That's not to say that Adamos was the only one to get teased but the majority of the time it was just him, and the reactions that Nyx gave out paled in comparison to his own, due to his inexperience.

It only took the gods two days to walk to where they needed to be and with the way that Adamos was sweating and glaring at what looked like a second sun quickly maneuvering around the sky, he wanted to get this over with.

"Oh Chaos. Its so fucking hot!" He complained as he wiped sweat from his brow.

"Well, what did you expect?" Nyx questioned as she looked absolutely normal, other than the pitch-black hand fan she was using on herself. "This place is being heated up by two heat sources. At the rate that things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if everything began to die off because of the heat."

"Then I guess that just means that I have to get this over with." Adamos said and pulled his bow out and a few arrows for use. "This heat is annoying." He muttered and looked to the sky, his eyes following a hazy outline of a bird, casually flying around the sky. Then a second later he blurs out of existence, leaving his own faint haze of light where he once was.

A smile spreads across Nyx's face. "This is going to be fun." And then she disappeared in a pool of shadows.

Adamos was quickly following behind the phoenix from a slight distance away. His eyes moving around as he took in the landscape around him, looking for any landmarks or places for an ambush. He had been following the infernal bird for the better of four hours and had noticed a slight pattern in its flight.

He stopped and changed directions and blurred away to a large tree that was growing taller than the rest of the forest. 'Ever so often it passes that tree.' He thinks to himself as he stops at the trunk. 'If I can catch it there than I can finish it before the day ends.' He smirks and then hops up and grabs a branch, beginning his ascent.

He moved quickly to the highest and most stable branches on the tree and set himself up. Already drawing an arrow in place, he sits in the cover of the leaves and watches as the haze slowly moves closer. It performs barrel rolls and loops in the sky, as if it didn't have a care in the world.

Adamos waited for almost half an hour before the bird made its way over to him.

'Finally.' He thought as he began to pull back the arrow as far as he could. The amount of force causing his body to shake before he took a deep breath to steady himself. 'Not yet.' He thinks as it gets closer.

'Not yet.'

It gets closer.

'Not yet.'

It gets close enough that the haze begins to lessen and Adamos is able to see the bright red and golden feathers of its body. The bird was far larger than any normal bird and had a wingspan of at least fifteen feet.

'Now!' He thinks and releases the arrow from his grasp. A loud snap is heard as the projectile flies at great speeds towards its target. The bird didn't even react as the arrow flew closer. Adamos looked on excitedly as it was about to hit its target, but his eyes widen in shock as the arrow passes straight through the phoenix's body and continues to sail through the sky.

The phoenix stops its flight and squawks in shock as it flaps its wings to stop itself from flying forward.

"What the—" Adamos mutters before a shrieking sound draws his attention. His eyes focus on the large avian monster that was now flying towards him at great speeds, leaving a scorching trail of fire in the sky.

"Shit!" Adamos panics and begins to climb down the tree as fast as he can. He leaps from branch to branch, trying to move as quickly as possible, but it wasn't fast enough as the infernal bird soars over the tree, barely touching the top branches, but it was close enough proximity that the entire tree burst into flames, the dry leaves and wood catching fire easily. A searing wind blew a second later, stoking the flames and causing Adamos to lose his footing and grip and fall the remaining twelve feet back to the ground.

"Gah!" Adamos gasps out as he lands on his back, but he quickly moves out of the way as a branch burns off and falls right where his head was. He stands to his feet and, uses his arm to shield his face from the scorching heat and ash now rolling off the tree he was just using.

"SKREEEE!"

Adamos's attention goes up to the shrill sound as the flaming bird was now turning around for another pass at him.

"Shit!" He growls under his breath as in a burst of dim light he's moving quickly through the trees and away from the flying beast, but it wasn't as fast as he liked as he needed to slow down occasionally to avoid colliding with trees. And much to his irritation, this slowed him enough that the phoenix was still able to keep up with him. He pushed on though as he tried to move sporadically in order to lose the bird, but it proved futile as the bird still refused to let him go.

The game of cat and mouse went on for, he didn't know how long but long enough that he had actually blurred straight to a cliff face over the ocean. The sun having set long ago, but the sky was still lit up by the raging flames that trailed behind the bird.

"Does it ever give up?" Adamos muttered to himself as the subject of his ire was speeding towards him, letting out cries that he some how figured were some kind of insults in bird language.

"Backed to the edge of a cliff and about to be killed by a giant chicken." He muttered to himself. "Zeus will never let me live this down."

Adamos took out his last few remaining arrows, as he had either lost most of them in his fall or trying to shoot the pursuing bird, and he began firing as fast as he could. Some of the projectiles burning up before they reached their target, some being outright dodged, and the ones that did hit only gave inconsequential injures that the bird just healed as soon as they were caused.

'I'm out.' He thought as he just shouldered his bow and drew his sword. 'Maybe I'll come out of this only mostly burned alive.' He thought in some morbid sense of humor as he held his sword.

The phoenix came flying at great speeds with its talons fully extended, intending to rip its elusive prey to pieces. As soon as they were within each other's reach, they struck. The mythical bird with its talons and Adamos with his sword.

But in that split second Adamos did something that could either have been considered miraculously luck or genuinely the stupidest thing possible.

He closed his eyes.

Instinctively in an act of self-preservation during that split second the godling called more upon his innate powers, as his hands exploded in a blast of celestial fire, and more importantly, blinding starlight. Starlight so blinding that it caused the phoenix to be blinded and for its burning talons to miss their mark of Adamos's throat and instead slash his right shoulder, leaving a deep wound that was surrounded by a ferocious burn. The force of the attack mixed with the speed the phoenix was flying was enough that it sent Adamos flying off the cliff and into the seas below.

* * *

"You really got your ass handed to you." I stated as I watched what happened.

Adamos huffed. "…Like you could do any better." He muttered.

"I probably couldn't, but then again I'm not a god." I snarked only to receive a punch in the arm. "OOWW!" I groaned as I clutched the appendage and silently wept at the popcorn that was now lost to the floor as the punch did move me. It was the true victim here.

"Why didn't you use any of your normal powers?" I questioned, after all I had access to many of his powers and using the earth would have definitely helped him.

"I didn't have any domains." He stated as he rested his chin in his hands. "None of us gods did."

"But you were clearly using some star power." I pointed out.

"Yup," He popped the P as he said the word. "But that was something I inherited from my mother. I was the only one with actual powers. I mean sure we gods had some to call on, but with out our domains, we didn't have something to anchor those powers to."  
He must have understood the confused look on my face as he continued. "Without a domain, a gods power is simply that. Raw power. Domains are what allow us to disperse that power in a controlled way, otherwise we would just be like micro suns walking around if we were in our true forms."

"Scary thought." I muttered. "But that doesn't explain why you have star powers."

"Its because I'm a natural celebrity." He said in a mock smug fashion, but I just gave him a bland look. "Ok, my mother was a Titaness with domains, while dad was a domainless god. My theory is that it was just like a god making a child with a mortal. Only, you know, I came out as a god with powers instead of a demigod." He shrugged. "That's the theory at least. But since there are no domainless gods, I can't really prove or disprove it."

"I guess that makes sense." I say as I rub my chin in thought. I had read a bit into Adamos's mother Asteria and read that she was the Titaness of falling stars, necromancy, dream prophecies, and astrology, now I was wondering what other powers he had. I didn't voice my question and just went back to watching the quest.

* * *

It seemed as if a decent amount of time had passed as the sun was now up and the phoenix was no longer flying around in the sky, if the now solitary sun was any indication.

Adamos was laying on his side as the waves crashed in front of him and reached up to his waist before receding back into the sea.

Currently a very amused looking Nyx was looking into his Adamos's barely open eyes, but he gave no response to her presence like he normally did as they traveled together.

"Hey!" She called. "You alive." She didn't receive a response and began to nudge him in the face with her foot with a soft smile on her face. "Wake up."

Adamos's hand swatted her foot away as he groaned and rolled onto his back. "Let me sleep." He groaned. "Screw off."

"Only if you help me." Nyx said cheekily as knelt down and became closer to his face. A Cheshire grin on her face as the young god before her blushed but was forced to look at her since his body was to sore and injured to move. "So," Nyx decided to change the subject to spare him of embarrassment, or to keep him calm so he doesn't start bleeding again due to his now increased heart rate. "A better person would ask if you were alright and all that first thing. But sadly, for you I'm not that person. I told you you'd fail." She said smugly. "I told you you'd fail, and you didn't listen to me. Now look where you are."

"Yeah yeah." He rolled his eyes. "I screwed up. Can we move on, so I go back to trying to kill that stupid fucking bird?"

Nyx raised one of her perfect eyebrows. "You are in no position to do anything. You're covered in injuries and burns. You are going to recuperate until you are well enough."

"I'm fine." Adamos protested as he tried to sit up.

But Nyx put a single hand on his shoulder and gave the impatient young god before her a kind smile, but the way that the shadows seemed to frame her face, and the way the world around her seemed to become oppressive and dark indicated that she wasn't taking no for an answer and resistance would be met with excruciating pain. "You need you rest and recuperate. The phoenix isn't going anywhere." She said softly, bet it sent a shiver down the spines of all who heard it.

"Y-You may b-be r-right." Adamos said fearfully. "I-I can't-t catch it if I-I'm injured." He gave a nervous laugh as he tried to scoot out of the goddesses grip, but to no avail. And then like a switch the dark atmosphere was gone.

"Glad you see reason." Nyx chirped and then pulled out a roll of cloth. "No, I've never done this before but hold still as nurse Nyx heals you up." She says happily.

"You don't need to, I can wra—Hey watch it. Stop—I can heal my—Get your hands away from there!" Adamos vigorously protests as Nyx begins to work her medical 'expertise' on him.

It wasn't much later that the world's first mummy was made as Adamos was sulking in front of a campfire on a rock on the beach as Nyx happily began to prepare a plate of ambrosia and nectar for him.

"You know, most people wouldn't complain about having a beautiful woman treat them." Nyx comments as she brings him a full tray of godly food.

"Mmmggghhfftthhmm." Adamos spoke, but due to the tight bandages on him it only came out as muffled garble.

"What?" Nyx asked.

Adamos, clearly frustrated with the bandages, rips some of the bandages around his mouth off. "Yeah well most people aren't bound tight enough that they can't move let alone feel their legs." He gripes.

"Well I just wanted to make sure you were ok." The goddess says with actually concern in her voice. And hearing this, Adamos's scowl lightens.

He lets out a huff. "Sorry. You're just trying to help, and I didn't mean to snap. I'm just pissed at how completely I screwed up." He says as he looks over at the once forest. The flames had spread rapidly due to how dry the area had become. It didn't help that a large part of that spreading was due to Adamos moving all around the forest to allude the flaming bird and only seemed to make him feel guilty on the inside.

Nyx gave him a forgiving smile. "There's no need to beat yourself up so much. I mean you MAY have burnt down half the forest," Que the flinching from the god in question, "but no one said that any of this was going to be easy."

"No one said it was going to be so hard either." Adamos mutters, which earns him a slap on his bandaged back, causing him to stiffen and try to hold in a whimper.

"If you time to be a smart ass, then you have time to figure out how you'll get me that bird." Nyx chides.

"Fine, fine." He mutters.

After that night Adamos went to work to prepare for his next attempt. During the mornings he would look for whatever he lost as well as crafting replacement arrows for what he lost. Once he was done, he began to stalk the phoenix around as it flew. He memorized its flight paths and found that every two days it would leave the area and head to an unknown spot that he didn't try to follow while still bandaged up. Nyx had made it very clear that he wasn't doing anything strenuous unless it was hunting for food. That woman can be very persuasive when she means to, not even mentioning the fact that she wouldn't allow Adamos to change his own bandages and always made them a bit too tight for him. And if the small smirk she had while doing it was anything to go by, it was intentional.

It went on for about a month and a half as Adamos kept watch over the bird. He never tried anything out right like his first time, but once he hit the three-week mark and Nyx was satisfied enough to let him remove his bandages altogether, he began to test things. The first was that he left various piles of meats in the forest to find out what the bird eats. To his dismay however, out of the fifteen different attempts, the bird only ate two times from two different piles. This meant that the bird either didn't need to eat all that much, or it had its own consistent food source. Maybe that was where it went to.

It wouldn't be long before he would follow it to wherever it went. Maybe it led to its nest, or to a hunting ground. If so than it would be possible to kill it while it was sleeping or while it was eating. After all it would need to stop emitting flames if it wanted to eat. Right? Well the only way to find out was to follow it into unknown territory.

"So, you're finally doing it?" Nyx asked as she watched Adamos repack all of his things. "You're just going to follow it who knows where."

"It's not who knows where." Adamos said as he slung his bag on to his back. "Because I'm pretty sure you know where it's going." He said but only got a sly smirk in response. "But this is the only way for me to get answers."

"Well, I wish you good luck."

Adamos looked at her with a raised brow. "You aren't coming?"

"Not where you're going. But I'll be rooting for you Ada." She says with a smile and brandishing a small homemade flag with Adamos's name on it. "Good luck." She cheers and implodes into shadows.

Adamos chuckles at her cheeriness. They had been enjoying each other's company since the quest first began and Adamos was confident enough to say that she was an important part of his life. Well, she is his only real friend but semantics.

Adamos left in a burst of starlight and headed to a rocky hill that was just high enough for him to watch the forest. His eyes tracking the phoenix as it flew in the sky. The sun was already setting but like every night before the sky was still lit up by the avian ball of fire. But it wouldn't be for long as the bird made its way to wherever it made its home.

'Thank Chaos it lights up the sky.' Adamos thought to himself. 'I would have lost it otherwise.' It had been two hours of Adamos using his powers to keep up with the bird as it flew as fast as possible to wherever it was headed. He had to maintain a healthy distance to avoid being spotted, but that led to it escaping his sights a few times. But like he thought, he was lucky that the thing was a literal beacon of light in the sky.

"Where are you going?" Adamos muttered as he watched his target begin to slow down and lazily fly in circles. Rather than use his ability to catch up, the young god opted to sneak a closer look. His footsteps silent and his body low to the ground, hiding him in the brush as he got closer. He watched from his hiding place as the phoenix dove down and flew into a temple built into the mountain. Adamos raised a brow at the sight as a temple in the middle of the wilderness wasn't exactly common, especially since the mortals had barely managed to create their own tents.

"CAW!"

The sound of the bird crew his attention. No longer was it burning with a bright flame, but instead it was perched on the arm of a giant man, he easily towered over Adamos by a good head and a half. His body glowed, casting the entire temple in a white light. His eyes were a pure white that glowed brighter than the golden armor he was wearing.

Adamos moved closer to listen.

"…a good day Petrus?" The golden giant spoke as he stroked the bird, whom preened at the attention. "Here, I have a gift for you." The golden giant reached into a pouch at his side and pulled out a beautiful shining stone, that seemed to glow and swirl, almost like Nyx's eyes, except a bit duller, but beautiful, nonetheless.

The bird squawked in excitement as it picked the glowing stone in its beak and took off from the man's arm. It didn't travel far as it landed in some kind or golden stand that housed a nest at its peak. A smirk spread across the godlings face as he watched what was happening.

"HELIOS!" A voice roared from in the temple, making the golden man—his name was Helios—turn. An even bigger man walked out of the temple, his eyes ablaze with anger, or at least what Adamos assumed was anger since he was wearing a helmet with rams horns on it.

"What do you want now Krios?" Helios dryly responded as he barely paid the horned man a glance.

"What I WANT," He growled as he got right up into Helios's face. "Is for you to stop giving my creations to your pet!" He yelled.

Helios for his credit didn't flinch at his anger and just gave him an amused look. "Come now Krios. Those gems make Petrus happy. What's the harm in giving him a few for his nest?"

"The problem," Krios spat the last word emphasis. "Is that they already take me a long time to make and even more to process them. Kronos has already ordered for a crown to be made with them, and I know that Oceanus will be wanting something similar once Kronos has his. I don't have the time nor gems to spare just so your flying rat can feel pretty."

The bird in question squawked indignantly at the remark about being a rat with wings.

Helios rolled his eyes. "I'm sure they won't mind if there's one or two missing."

"Yeah, one or two would be fine. But not nine of them!" Krios's voice was growing with each word. The two began to argue back and forth with each other and neither noticed as Adamos slowly backed away and puts some distance between them. The entire time a grin was spread across his face in what could only be described as predatory and malicious.

The night sky was barely lit up as the phoenix, named Petrus, had taken off to fly around its usual grounds. Adamos sat on a rock with a look of concentration on his face as he began to sketch out basic drawings in the dirt and erasing them a moment later with his foot. He had been watching the comings and goings of the titan temple for three days in case something happened. He would have observed longer but boredom had been to great an enemy for him.

"The bird likes shiny things. I could use that for a trap, but the question is how to get them." Adamos muttered as he ran through ideas in his head. "The only problem is that I can't get them, and I don't think that I can fake something like that." He begins to think about the gems. "I could use an illusion, but those things gave off power and there's no way I can fake that. So, the next best thing would be to steal them. But I don't know if I can do that since Krios and Hyperion don't leave the place all that often."

Adamos was so deep in thought as he looked over the failed plans that he was drawing that he didn't even notice the figure behind him until they jabbed him in the sides with their fingers.

"AAAHHH! FUCK!" He shouted as he jumped at the sudden shock. His hand went to the sword at his sides, but he stopped and let out a groan as he watched a certain primordial goddess laughing at his expense. "Dammit Nyx. You scared me half to death!"

"B-But you s-should see the look on your face." She laughed at him as he rolled his eyes. It took a few moments for her laughter to die down.

"You done?" Adamos asked with a glare.

"Yeah, yeah." She waved off with giggles. "I'm good. So, have you figured out how to solve my problem?" She asked with amusement still on her face.

"I have an idea but no way to do it." Adamos sighs. "But maybe…" He mutters that last bit.

"Well you need to think of something." Nyx huffs. "That stupid bird is just ruining everything. It's changing sleep patterns for the mortals and animals. Even some of the monsters are getting agitated. Do you know how many hellhounds I hear…" Nyx trails on complaining over a bunch of minor things, completely missing the looks that Adamos was giving her.

"Hey Nyx." Adamos interrupted her mid rant and gaining her attention. "You have such wonderful hair." He says with a smile that makes the goddess blush at the random compliment.

"Oh, uh." Nyx wasn't able to speak properly as she was caught completely off guard by the compliment as she was often the teaser in their dynamic and Adamos's attempts to embarrass her were amateur and too few compared to her own. She looked away with colored cheeks and a genuine smile as he got closer to her, close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin. "Thank you. Despite what others think, I do take time make myself look good. We primordials might look naturally beautiful, but even we…"

SNIKT!

Nyx freezes as the sound of a blade cutting resonates in her ears. She barely registers the slight tug on the side of her head as she was talking. Her eyes look over at the only other person around and spy's him holding a knife in on hand and in the other… was a lock of pitch-black hair.

…her hair.

"You know this is exactly what I ne…" Adamos spoke but was cut off as a fist hit him in the face and launching him through a tree. The only sign that he was okay was the small ow that came from the shadows. It only takes a moment before Adamos is once again back on his feet, albeit swaying as he stands, and looking at a very pissed off goddess. In his hands are still the knife and the locks of hair.

"You know I never took you for the suicidal type." Nyx spoke with a frightening calm and a smile that seemed even more terrifying than if she was yelling. Her hands were shrouded in a dark aura that sucked in all light.

"N-Now Nyx." Adamos raises his hands in a placating gesture, which completely failed as he was still holding the two items in his hands. "I have a completely good reason for this."

"Oh? Do tell Ada." She says sweetly with underlying tones of a painful demise.

"I…have a plan?" He says unsurely as he eyes the irate goddess. His weight shifting to his back foot in a preparation to escape. "I found away to lure the phoenix away and with your hair I now have everything I need to get the bait from the titans."

The two immortals stare at each other for a few minutes. One with a look of simmering fury and the other with a look like he was trying to narrowly avoid death, which in all likelihood was probably about to happen. "Ok." Nyx spoke and the darkness receded along with the tension. Adamos let out a breath of relief that he had been holding, only to stiffen as Nyx appeared before him, faster than he could react with her fingers gripping his chin in an iron grip. "But make no mistake," She whispers as she looks him dead in the eyes. "I will be collecting on this if you succeed." Her eyes flash with a dangerous glow, and Adamos can only nod slightly as he can't get out her grip.

Nyx releases him and Adamos stumbles back, rubbing his chin. Nyx goes and sits on the rock that Adamos was sitting on with an expectant look. "Well?" She says as she rests her head on her hand. "I'm waiting."

"Ok, geez." Adamos moves over and grabs a bunch of sticks from the ground and begins to whittle them away and using the hair to tie the sticks into a shape. The process takes two hours before Adamos is done. He places two stick figures on the ground, both in the shape of an avian creature, but one was bigger than the other. "Done." He said with a satisfied grin on his face.

"So what? Your gonna put on a puppet show for them." Nyx asks dryly.

Adamos opens his mouth to let out a sarcastic response but stops when he sees the underlying anger still in her eyes. "No…they aren't puppets. I'm gonna bring them to life and they'll get the gems for me. I needed a powerful base to hold them together."

"So that's why you cut my hair."

"Yep. And there isn't any stronger base than one from a goddess." Adamos tries to pay her some kind of compliment.

"And you couldn't use your hair because…?"

"Not long enough?" Adamos tries to reason. But the sound of a hand hitting someone's head showed how well that worked. "First of all. OW! And second of all. I only have one shot at this, so I prefer to have a sure-fire bet than a half-baked chance." Adamos grumbles as he begins drawing a magic circle around the two avian puppets. "And now for the last piece." He says aloud, but more to himself than anything else. He grabs the pendant around his neck and looks at it. The necklace glows a soft orange in his hands.

'I wonder if Hestia knew that I'd need this?' Adamos thinks to himself as he places it in the middle of the circle. "Questions for later I guess." He mutters. He then begins to chant in some kind of incomprehensible language. The glowing flame in the necklace glows brighter and the flames fill the traces of the magic circle before all the fire gathers into the center of the two puppets. The wood burns black in the fire as the goddess hair fades into burns into smoky shadows and cloaks the figures.

Soon enough the flames fade away, leaving nothing but two birds. Their bodies and feathers as black as night. The two spread their wings and let out a series of caws.

'My Lord!' Two voices ring out in both immortals minds. One female and the other male respectively.

'My lord. You have blessed us with life and thus it is an honor to serve you.' The male voice says as the smaller of the two bows.

'Indeed, my lord.' The female voice says. 'We are at your command."

"Well this turned out better than I expected." Adamos grins as he looks down at the two birds.

"You know I kinda thought that they'd be bigger." Nyx states while she eyes the two new creations.

'Hold your tongue woman!' The female voice caws indignantly at Nyx. 'Our lord crafted us in his genius design. Who are you to question his construction?'

Nyx raised a brow at the bristling birds. "I am Nyx. The primordial of night." She released a bit of power and watched as the two birds seemed to shrink down and began to move from side to side on their feet. She smirked a little bit at how easily they fold under her presence.

'My Lord. If it comes to it, we shall use our bodies as a distraction so you may escape from her.' The male one whispers, but Nyx still heard it anyways and rolled her eyes.

Adamos sighs. "She isn't harming anyone. In fact, she helped me make you with her essence and parts of her body." The two birds look between their creator and the goddess, then between each other before bowing and muttering apologies. 'Wait?' Raven questioned, gaining all the attention. 'If she helped create us? Does that make her our mother?' The question brought both immortals thoughts to a grinding halt as their faces reddened equally.

"That's a—no, that doesn't mean… Nyx help me out here." Adamos pleaded, but Nyx wasn't even bothering to look at the three as her blush spread and a corner of her mouth was turned upwards…probably?

"So, what are you going to call them?" Nyx asked as she composed herself and squatted down to look at the birds. Adamos gave a grateful smile at the topic change. "I don't think I've ever seen a bird with black feathers, let alone two of them." Adamos looks in thought as he scratches his chin. "Oh, how about Bugaboo and Tromio?" She says, her smile showing how pleased she is with the names for the two birds.

"Those sound ridiculous." Adamos deadpans. He looks back at the two birds and decides on two names for the birds. "How about…" He points to the male bird. "You will be called Crow." His pointer moves to the larger female. "And you will be called Raven."

* * *

"That's really original." I deadpan.

"Their species didn't have a name yet, smart ass." Adamos retorted. "Would you prefer to call them bugaboos in public?" I stayed quiet as that would be weird to call them.

* * *

'Crow.'

'Raven.'

The two newest species brought into creation test out their names as they caw. 'We love it My Lord!' The newly dubbed Crow exclaims enthusiastically, with Raven matching his enthusiasm with just a flap of her wings. Nyx on the other hand pouts at how quickly Adamos rejected her suggestions.

Adamos gives a smile at the enthusiasm of his two birds before he turns serious. "I'm glad your happy about that but I actually need you to do something for me."

'Anything My Lord.' Raven cawed.

'We serve you faithfully.' Crow responded as well.

"Good because here's what I need you to do." Adamos then begins to tell them what he needs them to do.

Many hours later, both Nyx and Adamos were sitting on a mountain that gave them a good view of the temple but being far enough that they shouldn't be spotted easily. "You think they can pull it off? I mean its been a few hours already." Nyx asks as she kicks her dangling feet over the large flat rock she was sitting on.

"I'm confident they can do it." Adamos responded, his eyes never leaving where the temple was located.

You know I'm going to get back at you for cutting my hair." Nyx says.

"I thought you got over that?" Adamos groans.

"Oh I'm not angry, or at least not anymore." She says, and Adamos's shoulders relax slightly. "But that doesn't mean that I won't find a way for you to pay me back." Nyx purrs, making Adamos shiver at her tone.

Adamos was about to speak when the sound of loud shouting echoed from out of the temple. Not much later two dark blurs flew out of the temple, followed by a very pissed of Krios. The titan of constellations shouting swears and curses as he tried to shoot the two avian out of the sky with godly bolts of energy, but with no such luck as their small forms and swiftness allowed them to dodge if but just barely. "Get back here you fucking pests!" Krios roared with rage as they flew around. The stray shots fired and hit practically everything nearby, even a newly accounted for Hyperion that came to see what the ruckus was.

"Watch it you ass! You nearly hit me!" He yelled at his fellow titan. But Krios was in no mood as he rounded on Hyperion, grabbing him by the straps of his armor and slamming him into the walls of the temple.

"Your birds have stolen from me for the last time!" He roared and buried his fist in the golden titans gut before he could get out a response. What happened next was nothing more than a straight up slugfest as the two titans fought it out. Any attempts to talk it over were reduced to nothing more than battle cry's.

The two flying thief's however took this opportunity to fly back to their master, a pouch in each of their beaks. 'My Lord! We have returned with our prize in tow!' Crow squawked as he landed and placed the small pouch on the ground. Raven followed her counterparts motion an placed a larger pouch next to crow. The male bird in questioned huffed. 'I told you that you didn't need to grab that.'

'I couldn't help it.' She tried to defend. 'Milord said to grab the shiny stones. This had shiny stones and it was shiny. It was meant to be!'

"Well let's look at what you brought." Adamos interjects what could become an argument as he takes both pouches and dumps the contents onto the rock that Nyx was sitting on, after the goddess was asked to move. The four looked at the new treasures in front of them. Crow was perched on Adamos's shoulder while Raven, oddly enough, was perched on Nyx's.

On top of the stone were seven diamonds cut perfectly, and in their centers seemed to be a brilliant glitter of multicolored lights. However, they were only pieces and didn't seem to compare to the partially completed project next to them.

A gorgeous golden crown sat unfinished. Its metal was like the sun and emitted a soft light that seemed to resonate with the diamonds that it did have. The crown itself was engraved with the day and night cycle on its golden surface and when looked at really closely, you could see that the sun and moon were actually moving across the surface. Four of the gems were spread out evenly on its surface. "Holy shit this is amazing." Adamos breathed as he looked at the newly acquired loot.

Nyx picked up one of the diamonds and inspected it closer. A grin spread across her face as the moments passed. "Adamos? Do you know what we have her?" She asked to which the god shook his head. "What we have are starlight diamonds." She exclaimed but the younger god still looked like he didn't know what they were which only caused Nyx to grin more. "Starlight diamonds are rare gems that house tremendous amounts of power within its core, even more so since these are pure cuts with no taint in them." She says as she looks at the gem appreciatively.

"So, these things are containers of tremendous power." Adamos repeated and Nyx nods at his question. "Can they be used in like magical rituals?"

Nyx nods. "And they can be used to create weapons of great power, a gods symbol of power."

Adamos's brow twitches in irritation and a scowl mars his face. "Then why the fuck are they being used for decorations!" Adamos shouts and points at the crown. "Something that great is just being wasted.

"Hmm, Starlight diamonds can only be created by a deity with powerful connections to the celestial bodies in my domain. The only one able to make them other than myself is Krios down there." Nyx waves down to the temple, where the sounds of fighting were still taking place. "My thought is that Kronos is showing off by having this crown made. No better way to show your authority than by having an accessory made with one of the rarest substances in the universe."

"Is it really that hard to get them?" Adamos asked.

"Oh, most definitely. It's why I don't do it myself, to much hassle. First you have to find a star that's not connected to any constellation and is at the very least ten millennia old. Then you need to extract its essence with delicacy and precision. That process is numerous and intricate, and if there's even the slightest misstep, the quality greatly drops.

"Great." Adamos said sarcastically. "Now the titan's can just pump out weapons of mass destruction."

Nyx shakes her head. "I wouldn't count on it. Starlight diamonds take years to create just one. I think that Krios has been cultivating these for decades, not to mention that out of all of these, only about four of them are perfect cuts. The rest are so well done that the power drop isn't to much, but there is a bit of a difference. Honestly with how small the gap is in power between them, I have to hand it to Krios. He is good at his craft."

Adamos stares at the gems and crown for a moment. "Nyx?" He speaks after a few moments of silence. "Are the gems in the crown perfect ones?"

Nyx looks at the crown for a moment. Her features squinting to get a better look. "No. They are imperfect ones. Why?"

"I think I just came up with a plan for how to deal with that bird." Adamos says and Nyx raises a brow at him.  
'Is there anything for us to do my lord?' Crow asks.

"Not at the moment no." Adamos says as he at the crown with an intense look.

A week has passed since the gems were stolen and Adamos and Nyx made their way back to the forest where they first spotted the phoenix Petrus. In that time Adamos was meticulously working on the crown while occasionally speaking with Nyx. Crow and Raven were flying above and scouting the area around the two immortals so that their lord could finish whatever he was working on. Now though, the two birds were watching from a tree as their creator placed the crown on a stone in a barren clearing. Nyx was watching from under said tree as the shadows concealed her from all those that she didn't want to be seen by.

The sound of the Petrus's squawks signaled that it was close by and with that Adamos finally put whatever plan he had into action. Taking out his sword he angled the flat of the blade into the sun and began reflecting the light in flashes. After a few moments he star stepped as fast as he could next to Nyx, using the tree she's leaning on as a cover and inadvertently, using a part of her shadow cloaking to hide.

The primordial goddess smirks as her friend hides behind the tree. "So, are you going explain what this little plan of yours is?"

"I cursed the crown." Adamos spoke as he watched the crown with intensity. "The crown is cursed. If some one picks it up the curse activates and strangles the victim."

"That sounds like a decent way…wait? Did you say strangle?" Nyx asked but Adamos didn't answer as a loud caw sounded out and the temperature began to rise. The heat was enough to dry the sweat off the gods faces if it weren't for Nyx's darkness canceling out the heat completely.

Petrus landed on the rock and eyed the crown expectantly. Its gaze looked over it all the way around, until it noticed a shimmer on the opposite side. It the bird hopped to the other side of the rock and cawed excitedly as it viewed its prize. The four Starlight diamonds in the crown glowed in their metal holdings. Petrus, having only slightly better intelligence than other birds, began to peck at the gems, as if to test their authenticity. After a few pecks the bird looked satisfied and grabbed the crown in its beak.

"Here it comes." Adamos whispered excitedly. His face held a grin of anxious excitement while his eyes held another emotion that Nyx couldn't place.

With the crown in its beak Petrus opened its wings to take off. It leapt into the air but before it could flap its wings even once, the crown glowed a dark red color and in the next moment it was around the birds neck.

Petrus fell to the ground in a head as it wildly thrashed about. Flames erupted from its body, setting the surrounding area on fire.

"That… is a very dark way to hunt." Nyx spoke as she watched the infernal bird flail around with slightly wide eyes.

"You say dark, I say its ingenious. I mean I did have to convert one of the diamonds to a power source in order to make the thing unmeltable." Adamos shrugged.

"You did that with one of the gems?" Nyx asked, a little wide eyed.

"Yeah? Why, is that bad?"

"No, no," Nyx waved off his question. "Just that only those like Krios, with a strong connection to stars would be able to do that." Her expression turned into a knowing grin. "That clears up one of your domains." she mutters giddily.

"What? Stars?" Adamos asked, not entirely sure what to make of the information. In the end though he just shrugged. Thoughts that were best done later.

The two of them fell into a silence as the continued to watch as Petrus was being strangled. "Seriously how long does it take to strangle something into unconsciousness." Adamos whined.

"You are oddly okay with this." Nyx eyed him. "Most beings would be at least a little against the idea of this."

"Well I guess I'm not most people—Hey look it think it's finally worked." Adamos pointed excitedly as the flames died. The heat dissipating enough that the two immortals could finally see the barely twitching phoenix laying on the ground. Its eyes glazed over as it lay there.

"Did you kill it?" Nyx asked as she kicked the large bird with her foot. This causing an involuntary twitch to go through the beast. "Huh, I guess not." Nyx then snapped her fingers and the bird vanished in a pool of shadows. The only thing that even showed it existed were a few stray feathers on the ground.

"So, is that it?" Adamos looked at Nyx expectantly as he picked up a bunch of the feathers and looked at them before putting them in the ouch with the diamonds. Not really sure what to do as this was his first time, he had ever done a quest.

"Yes Ada, its over." Nyx informed the godling, who then slumped to the ground in a form of exhaustion. "Oh, stop being such a baby." She mock chided him.

"I will have you know that this has to be one of the most stressful points in my life." Adamos said pointedly.

"Considering that you lived in a cave for most of your life, that's a given."

"I'll have you know that that cave is super comfortable to live in." Adamos huffs. "But I think I need a break before I even attempt the next quest."

Nyx taps her chin and a smile spreads across her face. "You know," She speaks, drawing Adamos's attention to her. "I might know of a way to relax before you take off your next quest."

"Oh really? Do tell?" Adamos spoke, though he didn't seem to know what that smile that the primordial goddess had meant.

"Well, I do seem to remember promising you a reward if you managed to do complete the quest." She sauntered over elegantly to the sitting god. Unconsciously Adamos straightened himself from his seated position as she got really close. "And I personally believe that this has been put off for long enough." She purred the sentence.

"Uh, Nyx?" Adamos blushed a bit at the close proximity. "This wouldn't happen to be one of your teases, would it? I mean I don't really need a reward for the quest since you already offered one."

The goddess smirked. "Not this time, but don't worry. If you don't want a reward. Then just think of this as paying me back for my hair. After all, you won't be leaving until I'm satisfied." She smiled sweetly and before Adamos could protest she leaned forward and shut him up with a hand over his mouth and the two immortals dissolved into shadows.

* * *

"So, what did you think?" Adamos asked me with an expectant look.

"I feel like some parts just came out of nowhere or where too easily done." I criticized.

"Would you rather watch the month and a half that it took me to complete the quest or would you rather have the shorter version?" He challenged.

"Shorter version." I huffed. "But what was going on with you and Nyx. She seemed to be present far more than necessary."

"I'm a god, not a demigod. Different rules for me. So long as she doesn't do the quest herself, she can do what she wants. That and she just likes messing with me."

"Ok, one more question?" I asked. "What was with the whole flirting thing?"

"We were…more than friends but I don't know if we would get married. Maybe mutual backup significant others."

"And Athena's okay with this."

"I wouldn't know. Its something that only we are privy too." Adamos then looked at me with a glare that could freeze a volcano over. "And if you speak of that to anyone, no one will remember that you existed."

I gulped. "Noted. Why don't we—uh, just pop in the next quest." I suggested and Adamos got up and switched the discs.

**A/N: Hey everyone I'm not dead. I've actually been dealing with personally issues lately as well as trying to stay safe in this epidemic we've been facing. I hope that all of you are staying safe out there. Anyways I've also been busying myself and by reading more stories. Honestly this is just publicity for these stories. I branched out to the RWBY fanfiction and found a few stories that I like and recommend. The first is Grimm Heir by DeadRich18, which is pretty dark and a bit gory, but that's what sets it apart in my opinion. The second is A Reaper in Red by 0neWhoWanders. It deals with monsters and such. The third is the story The Seventh Circle by Obsequium Minaris. It deals with trauma, abuse and is pretty centered around character development but there are sprinkles of fights here and there. This one is personally my favorite of the three. **

**Last time I was going over bleach stories and one stood out. It was a crossover between One Piece and Bleach, and I have to say that shit hits the fan in the best ways.**

**Anyways, stay healthy all you sexy beasts.**

**Momentei, over and out**


	24. Chapter 23: Movie Night III

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 23**

**Movie night III: Even Bigger Jaws**

"So, what's the second quest about?" I say as I take a long slip of my Slurpee, a combo of Coca-Cola, cherry, and a ton of blue raspberry.

"It's about a huge pain in the ass is what's its about." Adamos grumbles and I couldn't help but raise a brow at the sudden irritation he was emitting.

He lets out a sigh. "I had to scour the ocean for something that was taken from Pontus. Don't regret it, but it was still a pain."

"I don't know what's so bad about that. Seems like a simple fetch quest to me." I shrugged.

"Just watch." Adamos then grabbed the remote and pressed play. The screen lit up and began to play the contents.

* * *

A young Adamos sits on a beach putting things into a bowl and mixing them together. Various colored liquids are poured, and some forms of neon colored powders all deposited carelessly.

"What are you making Master?" An inquisitive Crow hops around the godling as he watches his creator stir the concoction together. Raven looking equally invested but instead resting on Adamos's shoulder.

"I'm making a communication potion." He explains, not even looking up from his task.

"You can communicate with a potion?" Raven asked. "Do you whisper into it and the liquid spells something out when you pour it? Because that sounds pretty stupid Master."

"Hold your tongue Raven. Do you dare call our Master a fool?" Crow chastised as his feathers ruffled in irritation.

"While I appreciate both of your helpful commentary," Adamos butted in and stopped what would have become an argument. "But this doesn't do that Raven. This instead acts as a catalyst," Adamos picks up the bowl and inside is a slightly luminescent teal liquid. "and with it I will be able to set up a visual and audio connection between here and whichever place I want."

"That is absolutely genius master!" Crow praised.

"Indeed, it is truly revolutionary." Raven cawed.

"Thanks, you two, but its not as amazing as it sounds. The stuff needed to make the damn thing as well as the preparations are pretty extensive. It's honestly a bit more trouble than its worth. Alright, moment of truth." Adamos moves to a pile of sticks and with a wave of his hand sets it ablaze. Then without hesitation he tosses the mixture into the fire.

"What if it blows up?" Raven whispered and Adamos and Crow took a rather large step back. But the blaze didn't explode and instead it turned blue and began to emit a sound that oddly enough was the same ringing you would hear when making a phone call.

"Is it supposed to make that sound Master?" Crow asks as he perches on Adamos's empty shoulder, opposite of Raven.

"I'm not sure. This is actually the first time I've attempted this. Everything else has just been theory." Adamos watched as the blue fire then roared to life, scaring the three present. In the middle of the inferno a rather large screen appeared, showing someone's stomach.

"Hello? Is any one there?" A feminine voice called out as the stomach on the screen shifted.

"Hestia?" Adamos asked, a bit confused at what was happening.

"Adamos? Adamos where are you? I'm hearing your voice, but I can't see you." Hestia kept asking.

"Hestia I'm looking at you thro—"

"Hold on. HERA! Adamos is calling through some sort of magic. Can you try to fix it?" Hestia called over her shoulder.

"Adamos is here?" Another voice said though this time it was Hades followed by Poseidon.

"Has my son finally returned?" Poseidon asked with a bit of excitement. "He finished much faster than I thought he would."

The screen was now filled with three godly torsos shuffling around and all talking at the same time. The sheer absurdity of the situation was causing the young god to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "HERA! We need your help. We don't know how to fix this thing.?"

"Have you tried turning it off and then on again?" Another feminine voice shouted from nowhere but was getting closer.

"It's worth a—"

"DON'T!" Adamos shouted. "Just raise the flames. We can see each other just fine." Adamos instructed as patiently and clearly as possible. It took another five minutes, Hera joining the group, and more repeated instructions because Zeus tried to fix it himself once he showed up, help from Metis, and a minor headache later and both parties were able to see and converse clearly.

"Adamos! My son. How are you." Poseidon greeted with a smile on his face as he tried to push himself to the front of the group, but a swift elbow from Hera kept him in line.

"I'm doing fine father." Adamos said with a smile but whatever he wanted to say was cut off by the birds on his shoulders and a gasp from Raven.

"Crow! It's the creator!" Raven loudly whispered to her male counterpart. "What do we do?

"I don't know?" Crow whispered back loudly though he seemed a bit more nervous. "Do I look presentable Raven? Are my feathers looking good? Do I have time to preen!?"

"Guys!" Adamos's voice cuts through their conversation like a knife and the two birds quiet. "You look fine. Can I get back to my conversation?" He asks rhetorically.

"Adamos." Hestia speaks, getting the three to look at her. "Who are they?" She asks as she looks over the two birds with interest. This brings the rest of the gods attention to the two.

The two avians look at each other and have a silent conversation until they step from side to side and puff out their feathers, as if to make themselves more presentable.

"I am Crow." Crow lifts one of his wings in a sort of salute.

"And I am Raven." Raven mirrors her counterpart.

"And we serve our master." They spoke in unison.

Adamos raised a brow at the introduction while a some of the goddesses giggle at how cute they look. Poseidon and Hades had amused smirks on their faces while Demeter wasn't particularly impressed, and Zeus was even less so. "Well, aren't you two precious." Hestia gave them a warm smile that caused them to stand even more proudly than before, and Adamos could see the bird equivalent of a smirk on their faces. "How did Adamos find you two?"

"Milady, our master did not find us." Crow seemed appalled at the mere suggestion.

"Yeah!" Raven cried indignantly. "Master created us with his own power and help from motheMMFFFHHGMM" Raven didn't get to finish as Adamos clamped her beak shut.

"I created them myself. Ahaha. Yep, just me." Adamos said unsteadily, his eyes looking everywhere but at his family.

Hera raised a brow at his behavior. "Adamos? What was she going to say?"

"Nothing Hera! Have I ever told you how beautiful you look today?" Adamos says a bit too quickly

"You are such a charmer." She laughs. "But that doesn't change the subject. It almost sounded like she was going to say mother?" Adamos doesn't say anything but from the blush spreading over his face, he didn't need to. This causes Hestia to squeal with delight.

"Who is she? What's her name? Are you together right now?" Hestia shot out questions at a rapid-fire pace. All the while some of the gods have skeptical looks, but Poseidon was the one showing the most emotion.

"Are-are you crying?" Hades asked in disbelief as he looked at his brother. The tears were barely there at all, but since all of the gods were so close together, especially since Hades and Poseidon were right next to each other, it was visible.

"No," Poseidon denies heatedly. "It's just hot in here with everybody."

"It's probably just some nymph that he met along the way." Zeus casually stated, not particularly seeing the big deal.

"I sincerely hope that you didn't just leave her." Hera says as her eyes sharpen.

"What?! No!" Adamos denies and the quietly mutters, 'Not like I could leave her if I wanted to.' It was to quiet for anyone to hear.

"Master would never do that to mother!" Raven squawks angrily. "Otherwise he wouldn't have spent the last three months alone with her!" As soon as the words came out her beak, Adamos's blush tripled and all the gods and goddesses just stared wide eyed at the bird.

"Why do you keep talking!" the young god angrily whispers to his loyal servant.

"THREE MONTHS!" Zeus roars. "What have you been doing for three months!"

"I'll tell you what he hasn't been doing." A sultry voice speaks out and a pair of flawless pale arms wrap around Adamos's body. Crow and Raven leap off their master's shoulder as Nyx rests her head on their former perch. "He hasn't been disappointing."

"Lady Nyx." Zeus whispers as all the immortals go wide eyed and scrambled into kneeling positioned. Nyx however just giggled at the sight while Adamos sighed. He knew that she got a rise out of tormenting and teasing others. Then again, he did to, but only to those he felt deserved it... and maybe the occasional random person. That didn't mean he wasn't laughing internally at how quickly they all moved. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence." Zeus didn't meet the primordial goddess's eyes.

"Oh, nothing really. Just came to see Ada off." Nyx says casually as she kissed the young god's cheek and making him blush, which doesn't exactly go with the looks that the immortals on the other side of the transmission.

"Can some one please explain what's going on." Hades looked bewildered as his eyes moved back and forth between his nephew and the all-powerful goddess that was hanging off him. Adamos mutters something that his family can't hear. "Could you repeat that?" Hades asked.

"Oh, he's just embarrassed about the whole girlfriend meeting the family thing." Nyx gives a pleasant smile as she watches their minds short circuit for a moment. Then Poseidon apparently broke down into 'manly' tears.

"Oh, my Chaos! Will you stop crying!" Hades snaps back to reality only to snap at his brother.

"But," Poseidon cries more happy manly tears. "I'm just so proud. My son has become a true man. And with a primordial goddess no less." Hades groans and pushes the proud blubbering god out of the room with a look of annoyance. "I'm Just so PROUD!" Poseidon's cries echo through the hall until they are muffled into nonexistence.

"So um," Hera spoke out as the two gods left the room. "How did this happen?" She gestures unsure at the two.

"I may have cut her hair…without asking." Adamos speaks nervously as he looks away and not meeting their eyes.

"You're an idiot." Demeter deadpans.

"Demeter!"

"What?" She looks at turns to Hera who scolded her. "He went against a primordial. That's pretty stupid if you ask me."

"So, does this mean that you will join our side milady?" Zeus cuts into and stops their argument. This puts all attention on the night goddess who looks like she's thinking about it in her head as she taps her chin.

A coy smile spreads across her face as she gives a chipper "NOPE."

"Wha—but."

"The deal still stands Zeusy. And even if I wanted to, I couldn't change it without Gaia's or Pontus's acknowledgement. But don't you worry, if they try to slaughter you all I'll make sure Ada will be comfortable living with me."

"But—But!" Zeus sputters.

"Whoops connections slipping." Nyx shouts and immediately dispels the magic and reducing the flames to smoldering embers.

"You didn't have to do any of that." Adamos grumbles but a small smile creeps on his face.

"Oh please. You and I both know that you wanted to mess with him." Nyx rolls her eyes before giving him a squeezing embrace before letting go." So, are you finally ready to start the next quest?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Adamos shrugs. He then turns to Nyx with a bright smile. "Thanks again for helping me prepare. Especially on the domain front."

Nyx waves him off. "Well of course. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't help you, after all I can't have you dying on me so soon?"

"You're really into that whole girlfriend thing, aren't you?"

"Don't even try to deny it." Nyx pokes at his chest with her finger. "Your just too embarrassed to flaunt it. So, I have to do double the work." Adamos lets out a short laugh at her serious face before Nyx too breaks down to giggles. The two manage to compose themselves after a few moments of laughter. "Are you sure you're ready for this. You can still wait a while."

"Thanks Nyx, but I need to do this now. If I wait any longer, I feel like I'll put it off indefinitely." Adamos says and Nyx nods understandingly. Adamos turns and faces the rolling tides of the beach. Crow and Raven flutter up and perch themselves on Nyx as they too watch expectantly.

As if it knew that he was ready, the waves all stopped and calmed. Turning the entire stretch of beach into a calm mirror of water. A tanned man with a seemingly permanent scowl rises from the water, yet nothing is disturbed or even ripples as he walks onto the beach and stops a few meters from Adamos and Nyx. "Pontus." Nyx casually greets him, and Pontus just gives brief nod in her direction.

"So, you finally ready to get off your ass and do what you were supposed to boy?" Pontus asks gruffly. He folds his arms across his large chest and looks down on the young god both figuratively and literally since he easily towers over young man.

"I have a name." Adamos quietly mutters but Pontus just huffs as if to say that he didn't care. "Yes, I'm ready for this quest you want me to do." Adamos spoke with fake enthusiasm.

Pontus's scowl deepens but he doesn't say anything, partially because he needs Adamos to do this and mostly because Nyx is giving him a murderous glare that just seems to just be begging her an excuse to attack him.

"Deep in the oceans Oceanus has hidden away something that is very important to me. Your job is to find it and bring it back to there shore where you will call me, and I will pick it up. Any questions." Pontus explained.

"Uh, yeah. Where exactly is this object that I'm supposed to find." Adamos asked with a raised brow.

"The ocean."

"Can you be more specific?"

"The bottom of the ocean."

Adamos's eye twitched in irritation and he could see the amused glimmer in the primordials eyes as he screwed with him. But there was no way that he would call him out on it since a conflict wasn't exactly in everyone's best interest. That, and the fact that he didn't want to look childish in front of Nyx. He had to image to maintain as her boyfriend, a title that he feels more comfortable admitting in his head. "How will I know when I find it?"

"It radiates power. You'll know it when you get close." Pontus vaguely explains. It was at that point that Adamos's patience was wearing very thin.

"So is there a way for me to get it, because I can't exactly breath underwater." Adamos asked inquisitively and judging by the small smirk that graced Pontus's face, the answer wasn't going to be pleasant.

"There is a way…" Pontus trailed off and then faster than he could react to, Pontus moved in front of Adamos and had his hand in front of his head. His middle finger was restrained by his thumb.

In that single split second, all Adamos thought was…

'Oh shi—'

Pontus released his finger and flicked the young god in the forehead, but with his divine strength behind it the force was enough to knock him off his feet and sail in the air for a few feet. Nyx immediately rushed to his side as a large red mark appeared on Adamos's forehead. His posture wobbled as he sat up, gripping his head, a groan escaped between his lips. Nyx turned and gave a murderous glare at her fellow primordial, who just chuckled to himself. "There you go boy. You have now been blessed to traverse anywhere in my domain."

"Was that really necessary?" Nyx spat.

"No, but it was definitely enjoyable." Pontus said and then promptly disappeared into water before Adamos, or rather Nyx, could retaliate.

Nyx gave an irritated groan as she watched Pontus leave. Her attention then turned to her fallen lover who was cradling what had to be a massive headache. "You okay Ada?"

"Yeah." Adamos hissed as he unsteadily got to his feet. "Was caught off guard. Dick hits half as hard as you do." He joked

Nyx rolled her eyes but gave an amused huff. "If you have time to flirt than your fine." Nyx let go of him as he seemed perfectly capable of standing on his own, and the red mark on his forehead already seemed to be healing rather well. She looked over him as if she were imprinting his very image into her mind. "Ada…" She began but stopped.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing," Nyx waved him off, choosing not to speak. "It can wait."

"Okay?" Adamos shrugged of her hesitance. If she wanted to tell than she would eventually. He'd just have to be patient till then.

"Are you sure that your ready?" Nyx asked again.

Adamos gave her a confident smirk and held out his hand. A golden white flame appeared and shined like a star, yet the light seemed to be contained so as to not be overly bright to all that looked at it. "I think that I'll be fine."

"Just promise me you won't do anything stupidly suicidal." Nyx asked in all seriousness.

Adamos let out a laugh. "Since when have I done something like that. No don't even start." Adamos quickly cut her off as he saw the knowing look and began counting off on her fingers. "Well, I guess I'll see you soon."

"You better come back. These two are your responsibility." Nyx pointed to Crow and Raven. "And I need somebody to keep me entertained."

"It's like I'm nothing more than a piece of meat to you." Adamos said in mock hurt, making Nyx roll her eyes once more. "But don't you worry. I'll back before you know it." Adamos then ran and jumped into the ocean and disappeared beneath the waves.

Nyx let a smile grace her face. "You'd better come back. She's your responsibility." Her eyes following his form as her hand unconsciously rubs her belly. She waited a few more moments on the beach until she disappeared into a pool of shadows.

* * *

"What was that about?" I asked Adamos as the scene changed, but he chose to ignore me and just shovel more popcorn in his mouth. I let out a sigh as I went back to watching.

* * *

Months. Gods damn MONTHS! It had been many months since Adamos left that beach and dove into the oceans. It was at this point that he felt like tearing his hair out. Between the less than informative clue given by Pontus, the dimwitted and clueless guards of Oceanus he had to avoid, and the fact that no one seemed to know where this supposed treasure was, he felt like he could just explode.

"Maybe I can find something to stab. Stabbing things sounds fucking therapeutic right now." Adamos muttered to himself as he sat at the edge of a reef, his shoulders slumped and face exhausted. His gaze swept over a colony of merfolk and nymphs. Just one of many that he has seen in Oceanus's kingdom. Colony might be pushing it actually, as most denizens of the sea are nomadic, with only a few actually setting up spots of civilization close to Oceanus's capital city. The need to expand with more colonies for the people had never been one of Oceanus's concerns as far as the rumors go. It was common belief that he much rather keep what ever towns and such within his reach. Making his capital the single undisputed 'real' city beneath the waves.

That wasn't to say that the towns were less impressive as Adamos could attest to the buildings and towns being far beyond what the mortals on the surface have developed, especially the closer that you go to the capital, but it seems that Oceanus likes to make it clear that his city should never be contested against.

"Maybe that's why his castle looks like a giant peni—"

SKKRRREEEEKKKT—SKKKRREEEEKKKKT!

Adamos never finished his sentence as a large sea monster crawled from out of a cave beneath him and began to swim quickly towards the nomads. It wasn't the largest underwater beast that Adamos had ever seen, in fact it was rather on the small side. It was only around twenty feet in length with its tail making up half the length and looked like a cross between a crocodile and an eel, with only two arms on the front and just an eels tail on the back. The frills on its neck flared in aggression.

* * *

"Isn't that a sea dragon?" I asked as I looked at the creature.

Adamos gives a short laugh of amusement and I can already tell I was wrong. "That's not a dragon. It's a sea Drakon."

"What's the difference?"

"A huge difference. An average dragon is easily much larger than a Drakon. There are a few special cases of mini dragons but in the ocean, dragons are larger than Drakons. There's also the fact that dragon's contain and generate enormous amounts of raw magic in their bodies. It's be like comparing a handgun to an RPG in terms of destructive power."

I shiver at the thought as I read about Drakons in one of the camps classes on monsters, and Adamos sensing my worry just gave me a friendly smile. "Don't worry. The size is generally two to three times the size between the two. Very rarely will you ever see one grow far beyond those lengths, and the ones that do wouldn't really bother attacking a demigod since your too small to satisfy their hunger." I gave him a nod and turn back.

* * *

Its light purple skin easily denounced it's age as only a few years from a decade old. That meant that it was still quite young and had probably gotten used to being top of the food chain in this area.

"Can't have that." Adamos pulled the spear off his back, completely forgoing his sword as he learned early on how the spear was a more effective since it allowed him to throw the weapon as opposed to the sword and smirked at the prospect of a little stress relief. He didn't even hesitate as his feet lit up in a faint glowing light and he was moving through the water at his target in a blur of speed that seemed to destroy the bit of reef that he was perched on.

The sea Drakon didn't even get close before Adamos crashed into it from behind, his spear driving straight into the back of its skull, his feet driving into its body and crushing organs. The sea floor beneath erupted in upturned sand and coral debris. Adamos let out a sigh as he looked at the remains of the monster, disappointed that it was so easily caught off guard. He swims upwards a bit and spots the nomads. The two closest to him, a pair of children playing, didn't even seem to register that they were a moment away from danger.

"Wasn't even a good warm up." Adamos let out a sigh as he swam away from the unsuspecting nomads. His focus going back to his search as he looked over the mass of sea floor with perfect clarity.

This was one of the last places that he had yet too search and his emotions were high as he cleared out individual territories. On one hand this narrows down the areas that this supposed treasure might be, but on the other hand if it isn't here. Adamos inwardly groans at the prospect of having to comb over the entire ocean floor once more, or even worse, going beyond Oceanus's vast territories. Out there is nothing more than beasts that would attack anything that moves and that would be just annoying to deal with on a constant basis.

"Maybe I should have asked the nomads if they had seen anything? Nah, the less people that know who I am the better." Adamos spoke to himself as he swam around trying to sense whatever it was, he was looking for. But he shook his head at the thought.

An involuntary shiver ran through his body, causing him to turn around quickly only to see nothing but open waters. Even those nomads were far out of sight at that point. It was a strange occurrence that had been happening to him for a few weeks now. The feeling of eyes watching you, yet you don't know where from. He had tried looking around, but he never found anyone, and when he swam away as fast as he could the feeling would eventually resurface after a while, which could only mean that he was being spied on.

'Now this just won't do.' Adamos thought as he glared off into empty ocean. His mind working on a way to best find out who is spying on him.

* * *

The ocean had darkened as Adamos put the finishing touches on his plan to capture whoever it was that was spying on him. Under the guise of hunting monsters, he made multiple nets from various plants at the bottom of the ocean. Next he made a makeshift base in the middle of a boxed in trench. Inside the canyon is a small alcove that he used for his sleeping quarters. There was a bit of a canopy over it so that no one from above could look in. Thus, leaving the only available spying place to be from the frontal viewpoint, but the trench also came with another secret. A small tunnel was in the farthest part of the alcove and lead straight back around to a hidden area by the entrance.

That was where Adamos was currently as he waited in his secluded area and watched for his stalker. He made sure to leave a fake body in the darker parts of the alcove but made it so that it was still visible. Hours seemed to pass as he watched the opening. It was so boring that he nearly nodded off twice as well as tried to count the number of fish nearby.

It wasn't till much later in the day that something approached the entrance. The sun above the surface had finally begun to set, painting the ocean with streams of distorted orange and gold. It was still enough light that Adamos could see the form of someone approaching the trench entrance but straying no farther than a few feet past the entrance. But it was enough for the young god to stealthily move closer to his target. His body moved close to the ocean floor, using both hands and feet, as if to crawl forward like a stalking predator.

Closer…

Closer…

The target was in his sights. Their back was turned, and they didn't suspect a thing as Adamos prepared the net and threw it over his target. It was almost too easy to get the jump on the mysterious figure that had been tailing him, but he pushed that to the back of his mind as he initiated his trap. Although he wasn't exactly prepared for the very feminine scream that came out as the net ensnared its target.

"KKKYYYAAAHHH!"

The scream was loud enough that Adamos had to cover his ears and shut his eyes until it was over. When he removed his hands, he shook his head to get the ringing out of his ears and took a good look at the stalker that had been tailing him.

It was a woman.

A beautiful woman.

A terrified, beautiful woman.

'Chaos, now I feel like a creep.' He though as he went closer to his captured target but stopped when she flinched at his approach. Her eyes were wide and showed nothing but fear and Adamos knew that if they were on the surface, she would be crying. Her body was barely covered by any form of clothing, showing her soft lightly tanned skin. Her long hair golden brown hair had gotten tangled in the net.

"P-please don't hurt me." She managed to whimper out, only furthering the godling's internal feelings of being a complete and total ass at the moment.

Adamos, deciding to play this as peacefully as possible moved slightly, only frightening her more until he dropped the spear that he was holding onto the ground. This seemed to be the right thing to do as her trembling lessened, and she was now looking at him with a look of fear, confusion, and a hint of curiosity.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Adamos spoke softly to her. "I just have a few questions I want to ask you. If you answer them, I'll let you go. Deal?" Silence filled the water as the two stared at each other until the girl gave a hesitant nod. Adamos gave her the most comforting smile he could despite the situation.

"Can you tell me your name?" He asked softly.

The girl seemed to huddle in on herself but eventually relented as she still found no way out of the trap. Her eyes looked at the ground, refusing to meet Adamos's. "My name is Aphrodite." She spoke softly enough that it was barely above a whisper.

* * *

"Wait!?" I leaned closer to get a better look. "That's Aphrodite?"

"Yeah?" Adamos said though it was more a question of why I'm questioning it.

"But she doesn't look like Aphrodite at all. The one we saw on Olympus looks completely different." I exclaim.

"That's because this is her true form. Aphrodite changes to whatever you perceive as beautiful, but she does have an original form before all that. She's just self-conscious about it." Adamos explained.

"Why would she be self-conscious?" I ask. I mean she's the goddess of beauty and even in this she looks breathtaking.

Adamos shrugs. "Who knows. People are self-conscious for any number of reasons." He then presses play.

* * *

"Aphrodite. That's a beautiful name." Adamos gave her a soft smile, making the goddess blush, but she still refused to look him in the eyes. "Were you the one that's been following me? He asked. The question caused her to blush to deepen, though it seemed more from embarrassment than anything else.

"I was." She said meekly.

"Can you tell me why?"

Aphrodite looked hesitant at first but seemed to gather the courage to speak. "I-It's because…you're like me." She spoke and each word seemed smaller than the last.

"Like you?" Adamos asked, now more curious than ever.

Aphrodite nodded at the question. "You look like me. Not like anyone else around here."

Adamos looked over her and then realized something. She doesn't resemble any of the nymphs in the slightest. Rather she looks more like a goddess or…a Titaness. Almost immediately Adamos tenses as discreetly as possible, but not discreetly enough as Aphrodite notices and cowers. He reaches forward and mutters a few words before a small light emits from his fingers. He grabs Aphrodite by the wrist a bit forcefully but pays no mind to her distress as his expression hardens.

"Tell me Aphrodite," Adamos spoke with a slight edge, scaring the woman in front of him further. "Why are you really here? And don't bother lying to me. I'll know."

Aphrodite's eyes widen at the close proximity and her voice became mere whimpers instead of words.

* * *

"Did you have to be such an asshole." I snapped at Adamos as I watched what was happening.

He turned to face me; his expression blank. "I had to. You just can't take too many chances during war."

"Still didn't have to be such a dick." I mutter as I watch.

"Doing that was the easiest way to see if she was telling the truth. Measuring her heartrate, bodily functions and emotions. It's a primitive magical lie detector but it's incredibly effective on the shorthand notice." He passively explained. "Couldn't risk it if she wasn't alone."

I understood what he was explaining but that didn't mean that I accepted it. The way he was acting towards her was as if he already considered her the enemy without even knowing her. I didn't even want to think about what he would do if she had been.

* * *

"Answer. Now." He spoke a bit more forcefully, only making Aphrodite whimper more. Seeing that this wasn't working, along with the magic telling him that her emotions were in genuine fear and confusion he eased up. Loosening his grip and adopting a softer look like the one before. "Answer the question. Please." He asked softly.

This seemed to work as Aphrodite was able to briefly meet his eyes before looking away. "I—I don't know anyone. I was a-always a-alone. E-Everyone is scared of me and I-I don't know why." She explained and then turned, looking into Adamos's eyes fully. "But you look like me!" She managed to drop the stutter as she spoke. "That means that we have to be the same right? It means that I'm not alone!" She exclaims. The desperation in her voice was apparent as she scooted closer to Adamos.

Adamos let out a sigh as he removed his hand from her wrist, feeling slightly guilty as he saw the faint red outline where his hand was gripping. Aphrodite looked fearful and even more confused as the god took out a knife and began to cut away at the net until she was free. "Well?" Adamos asked as Aphrodite just sat in the same spot, still tangled in parts of the net, but ultimately free. Aphrodite took this as her cue and scrambled away from the nets remains but for some reason she didn't flee. Rather she stood off to the side shifting her feet anxiously.

Adamos raised a brow at her as he grabbed what he brought with him. "Was there something you wanted?"

"I—ummm…Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, why not." Adamos shrugged.

"…Why don't you look like everyone else?" She asked hesitantly.

"You don't know?" Adamos asked but Aphrodite shook her head. "How long have you been by yourself?"

"I don't know."

"Have you tried to talk to anyone else?"

Aphrodite nodded. "I tried but every time they would run and hide or would just bow and not say anything." She says sadly.

"Makes sense." Adamos says quietly, but Aphrodite looks at him inquisitively. "You and I," He points between themselves. "We are gods and goddesses, or at least I hope we both are. Otherwise you would be a Titaness."

"Ok." Aphrodite seemed like she was struggling a bit to understand but seemed to acknowledge it overall.

Adamos let out a sigh. "This is going to be a long conversation. If you want to know more than I suggest coming with me," He swims back towards the alcove in the trench. "It'll be better if we make ourselves comfortable." Aphrodite follows after him at a slower pace since she is busy eyeing her surroundings. That night the two talk. Adamos explains the war with the gods and titans, the primordials, the last quest and some other basic information on the surface world. Of course, Adamos omitted important information but the amount that he explained seemed to be enough for the female immortal.

The sun had long since set on the surface and the ocean had been plunged into darkness, but that didn't bother them as Adamos had pulled something and placed it between them. It wasn't exactly very big or conspicuous, but it did emit a soft light that granted them total clarity of each other.

"So? What do you think?" Adamos eyed her as she was in thought.

"There's…a lot more happening than I thought." She said dejectedly.

This stoked his curiosity. "And what did you believe was happening?"

"Not this." She shook her head before meeting his gaze. "Do you think they will come after me."

"That depends on how well known you are?"

Aphrodite curled herself into herself more. The unspoken answer was quite clear. She had been alone for so long, but she's tried to make contact with the locals on multiple occasions. While fruitless for the goal she wanted, the chances are that her presence has been reported to Oceanus is quite high at this point. Adamos let out a sigh, he knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't in good conscious leave her to the titans. She was beautiful, practically on Nyx's level. Who knew what the titans would do to her if they found her? Probably add her to a harem or something "If you want," Adamos spoke a bit uncertainly. "you can come along with me while I'm searching."

Immediately her expression shifted to one of excitement. "Really!" She scooted up closely in the split second forcing Adamos back into the wall. Her wide eyes and excitement brought images of an excitable puppy to the forefront of his mind.

"Eer, yeah? I mean I could always use an extra set of eyes in my quest."

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun. I finally have a friend and we can do…friend things together!" She squeals in excitement, not really paying much attention to his statement and completely forgetting the fact that he had captured her in a net a while ago. Seeing that she wasn't going to stop he just rested on the wall as she kept talking.

* * *

One thing that Adamos had learned after traveling around with his new companion for a few weeks was that she talked. A lot.

That wasn't to mean that what she was saying was all meaningless chatter. On the contrary all that time spent alone meant Aphrodite had plenty of time to learn all about Oceanus's territories, the sea life, and where the most dangerous areas were. The only problem was that her naming sense was just as bad as Nyx's.

"And after we pass mushroom rock, we'll be at Gooby Gooby reef." Aphrodite said happily as she led Adamos in a random direction.

Are you sure you know where your going?" Adamos asked. "I'm pretty sure that we've passed this same place twice."

"I know exactly where I'm going." She huffed as she put her hands on her hips. An action that Adamos knew was a major step forward compared to the timid mess that she was before and quite telling in how familiar she was feeling in his presence. "I know every part of these areas as far as the eye can see and then some. You need to have some faith in me."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you know…every…thing." Adamos drifted off as he suddenly facepalmed at his own stupidity. How had he not thought of this before. He then shakes his head dismissing the idea. He was probably just to comfortable in Aphrodite's presence and was enjoying the companionship too much. "Hey Aphy?" He calls out her nickname, an insistence that she had after the first few days since she says that they were now besties that have achieved ultra-friendship. She always insisted on calling themselves Ultra Best Friends.

"Yeah Adam?" Her nick name for him after he refused to let her call him Ada. That privilege belonged to Nyx.

"Have you ever come across… an area of the sea that has a lot of merfolk and monsters. Someplace that just feels a bit off to you." He asks. The goddess scratches her chin before she snaps her fingers and grins widely.

"You must mean the Bloop trench." She chirps happily.

"The…Bloop trench?" Aphrodite nods ecstatically. "I'm afraid to ask, but why is it named that?"

"Because it's like super dark and depressing trench but I've seen a bunch of monsters all over the place. And every now and then there's a big bloopy sound and all the monsters seem super scared of it when it happens." Aphrodite passionately acts out the explanation, making Adamos let out an amused chuckle.

"Would you mind taking me there." Adamos asks, making Aphrodite freeze in her figurative acting. Uncertainty radiates off of her as she looks away. "Aphy, look at me." Adamos asks softly, making the goddess look at him with the same timid eyes as when they first met. "What's wrong?"

"I…I don't want you to go. If you do you might not come back and I don't want to be alone again." She speaks softly, but her words were clear. "I hate being alone. I hate it more than anything."

"Aphy." The young god gives her an understanding smile as he pulls her into a hug. Her head presses into the crook of his neck as she presses tighter against him. "Nothing is going to happen. Everything is going to be fine."

"You promise?" Her words are muffled by the contact.

"Yeah. I promise." The two leave the embrace and Aphrodite looks a lot less unsure about it.

"Alright. It will take us a day to get there if we don't stop." She says with conviction though some of it still seems a bit forced.

Adamos decides to give her a bit of mercy. "Actually, there's no reason to rush over there. And I do need to gather supplies if the place is really what I hope it is." Aphrodite's smile widens more at the idea of a few more days.

"Right, and we need to maybe good meals too, so that means that I'm cooking." She cuts Adamos off as he was a bout to suggest cooking himself. "No offense Adam but you can barely cook anything past roasted meat and wild plants."

"I'll have you know that those are perfectly acceptable foods." His says defensively.

"Yeah, if your living as a forager. I don't know how you know so many cooking recipes yet somehow are able to mess up just about all of them." She shakes her head in resignation. "It's like a gift and a curse from the universe."

"Hey!" He shouts indignantly but Aphrodite is already heading off in another direction while giggling. Thus, leaving the young god to fume and plan as he catches up to her.

* * *

"So were you ever—"

"No comment." Adams cuts off my question.

"Not even a bit of roma—"

"No. Comment." He said with finality. And I took that as MY cue to back off.

* * *

The trip took them about three days to make it from their previous destination to the dubbed Bloop trench. And as it turned out Aphrodite was right in her description of the place. The entire area was in one of the deepest areas of Oceanus's territories. The only light that was present was from some of the sea monsters and some glowing stones that littered the walls. It wasn't much but with for the two gods it was like the entire area was dimly lit up. There were still countless shadows and dark places for creatures to hide in, but it was ultimately better than trying to swim into an abyss.

Aphrodite hid behind Adamos as they looked on it from above. The two of them could just feel how different the water was to the surrounding areas. "It feels… chaotic around here." Adamos analyzed the few viable entry points.

"It's why I avoid this place. It's like nothing good comes from here." Aphrodite shook her head in disapproval.

Adamos however was feeling a different emotion judging by the large grin on his face. "Are you kidding? This place just seems to scream of an adventure." He said excitedly.

"You can't be serious?" The goddess looks at her friend as if he just grew a second head. "Oh, my Chaos you are. Fine if you really want to, I need you to promise me that you'll come back alive." She said sternly.

Adamos raised a brow but just smirked at her. "Alright. I promise that I won't die, and I'll make it back to you."

"You better or else… or else I'll use you as bait for a sea monster." She says with her fiercest glare, which for the young god was as fierce as a puppy.

"I'll hold you to it then." He snorts.

"You—" Aphrodite was prepared to give him an earful when suddenly a loud pulse echoed throughout the depths. Everything seemed to stop as it happened, as if their instincts were warning them that something was down there with them. "You have to go! You need to go now!" Aphrodite said forcefully as she pushed Adamos towards the trench. "You'll only have a minute before the monsters regain their senses.

Adamos's eyes widen and he swims off as fast as he can. He didn't say goodbye as this was more important. That, and the fact that he knew he would see her again so what was the point He always hated goodbyes anyways. Also the fact that in his mind, all he could think was, 'It does sound like a Bloop.'

The young god sped down into the trench, going deeper with each passing moment. Out of the corners of his vision he see's large sea monsters all slowly coming to their senses. This pushes him even further as theses creatures were each big enough that they could bite a large piece out of him. Nothing he couldn't handle but it was the sheer numbers that worried him.

"Whatever is down her must be powerful." He mutters to himself as dives deep enough that the light begins to dim drastically to the point that he can barely see in front of his face. The pressure bears down on him like a massive weight on his everything. He lets out a sigh when he reaches some sort of bottom, as he know what he has to do. Potentially this will just make him a target for any deep-sea predators down here but at the moment vision is more important since he doesn't know where he's supposed to go. Adamos clasps his hands together in front of him and begins to blow air into them, as if he were trying to warm his hands up on a winters day. Steadily a glowing light begins to seep out from between his fingers.

After a moment he appears satisfied with what he's done and opens his hands. A small glowing orb floats a few feet away, it's golden white body emitting a bright glow and illuminating the area around him to reveal…

Skeletons.

Lots of skeletons.

"Why do I feel like this is going to be much harder than I thought." Adamos scratched the back of his head.

* * *

"Why? Why did you have to jinx yourself?" I groaned as I watched.

* * *

A slow movement out of the corner of his eye has Adamos turning quickly enough to see the tail end of…something disappear into the darkness. "Defiantly not sticking around here." He mutters and swims forward.

The whole trench seemed to stretch on in many different winding ways. He'd been down here for hours? Days? He didn't even know how long yet so far, he had been attacked by no less than ten different beasts all trying to turn him into their next meal. They never got close, but the difference between the deep-sea monsters and the ones closer to the surface were vast. For one thing, many of theses deep sea monsters were ugly as all Tartarus and a majority of them had tentacles. If he didn't know better than he would have thought that tentacles were a prerequisite for anything living down here.

Adamos scowled as he pulled his spear out of sea monster number eleven. This one was much stronger than the others, so much so that he had to use his magic and some of his godly power to kill it with ease.

"Maybe I'm finally going in the right direction." He mused aloud as he used his spear to carve a large X in the cliff face wall. He had started doing this sometime ago after he found that he was going in circles and passed the same shark skeleton three times. He then swam off, not bothering to take a trophy from his newest victory. The blood from the trophy would only attract more beasts to him, like how he was sure that the corpse was already being feasted on by the denizens of the deep.

After continuing to travel even deeper down for what felt like forever for the godling his stomach began to growl. Deciding to stop and eat he sat down against a rock spire that he found randomly close to him. Digging into his satchel he pulled out what was left of his food from Nyx. He kept the divine delicacies as rations since he didn't need to eat to much of it to feel full. That and he enjoyed hunting and cooking his own food, and despite what everyone else said, his cooking was GOOD DAMMIT! At least when ever he doesn't try anything complicated.

Adamos was so lost in his internal musings and halfway through his food that barely noticed that for some reason the spire that he was resting against began to move. Pausing halfway into delivering the ambrosia to his mouth he froze. Very slowly he turns his head behind him until he's halfway facing a giant eyeball.

He blinks.

The eyeball blinks.

They both blink.

The creature that the eyeball belongs to lets out a shriek as Adamos lets out a 'manly' scream of surprise and jumps out of the way and being forced to drop his food and bag of stuff that he brought with him. The creature rises out of the sand to reveal itself that it's a giant squid with some sort of stone armor on its body. A large portion of its body hidden underground as it emerges revealing it's size to be around the same as a giant squid if a bit bigger.

"No, my food." Adamos shouts as he realizes what he just did. "It's okay, maybe I can still salvage the rest o—" His hopes were dashed as one of the squids tentacles slapped down, crushing the bag and his food.

…

…

…

…

"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" With an enraged battle cry the young god puts power into his feet, much like he does on the surface for his star step. His spear becomes coated in celestial fire and in righteous fury he charges forth like a streaking comet, stabbing the squid against the trench wall. The force of the charge cracking its armor plating and making inky blood spill out, the trench wall is massively indented from the force of the charge and decorated in a spiderweb of cracks.

* * *

I give Adamos a deadpan look. "Really?"

My godly brother turns away, but the apparent blush is still spread throughout his face. "Just shut up." He mutters without looking me in the eyes. I give a sigh and press the play button.

* * *

Adamos roars furiously at the squid as it tries to free itself. He charges once more, burying the spear even deeper since its protective plating had been broken. However, that wasn't the only thing that was broken as the trench wall seemingly caves in on itself, causing the two of them to fall through a hole and into a dark abyss.

"—this come from?"

"How should I know?"

"You were on shift."

"Oh, suddenly it's my responsibility to know everything that goes on."

"That's literally your job description! You're on look out duty. You have to look out for shit like this!"

Adamos blinks his eyes rapidly as the voices grow louder. A dull throb pounds against the inside of his skull before he shakes most of it away. Slowly he pushes himself off the ground, feeling a bunch of weights roll off his back and thud next to him. He finally raises his head to find…

Light?

A soft blue glow encompasses the surrounding area, flickering like a flame at night. But that wasn't right. Adamos knew he was still in the ocean's depths unless it was magic, which would explain the blue color. He brings himself to move closer to the light source, wariness and sore muscles the only things that keep him from going faster.

His head peeks around a large piece of stone, watching the two mermen arguing about something as they look over the corpse of the giant squid that he killed.

"Look its just a corpse. It probably just got into a fight with a larger monster and lost. End of story." On of the merman spoke in a grumpy and tired tone. His body covered in a shiny blue armor, which would have looked good on a proper soldier. However, this merman was kinda spilling out of the openings in his armor, his blue tinted skin kinda visible.

"But this doesn't look like any—" The second one spoke as he examined the corpse. He was clearly much younger than the other along with sea green skin and seemed to have the opposite problem. The fact that his armor seemed to be two sizes too big for him.

"Just drop it kid." The fat one cut him off.

"But—"

"Listen kid. You'll learn on this job that nothing happens here. Lord Oceanus wants whatever he has here locked away from the rest of the world. For what? I don't give a damn. But you have to know that no one knows we're down here. And even if they did, it would take an army to get past all the creatures that lurk down here let alone the twisting passages." The fat one explained in agitation.

"But—"

"Nothing has happened worth notice for the last five years and I highly doubt it will start now. But if it'll make you feel better, even if some idiot manages to get down here, they'll never get past the two guardians without the keystone." The younger guard looked nervous but just gave up on arguing with his elder. It was painfully obvious just how new he was to the position.

Adamos held a blank expression as he watched the two. Apparently by sheer dumb luck he managed to find what he was looking for AND come across two totally inept guards during their way back to the holding place of whatever it was he was looking for.

Honestly, he didn't know if the fates were cutting him a brake or if they were just setting him up for a round of punishment. Shaking his head loose of those thoughts he checked and made sure he was still equipped. Luckily for him all of his weapons were still attached to his person. The only thing that was missing was his bag of supplies. But that wasn't a real loss as he only brought easily replaceable items with him in the first place.

"I don't want to stay here any longer." The fat guard spoke as they turned away from Adamos's position." The sooner we're out of here the bet—" He never finished that sentence as he was struck in the back of the head with the butt of Adamos's spear, knocking him out. The younger guard panicked and fumbled trying to pull his sword out, but he was far to slow as Adamos rushed him and buried his fist deep into his gut. His body hunching over in pain, the young guard felt the point of the spear on the back of his neck.

"So, tell me, what exactly does one need to do get into that vault of yours?" Adamos says and when the young guard looks up, a cold trickle of fear travels down his body at the sight of the predatory grin of the intruding god.

* * *

Adamos tightens the strap on the stolen armor as he swims closer to the fortified vault. He knows that he doesn't look like the other guards physically, but that wasn't the point. The lack of blue and green skin was apparent as well as the lack of pointed ears, but the armor was so that no one would look into his presence too much if they caught a brief glimpse of him. He reaches into the pouch he took and pulls out the glowing stone. According to the guard its supposed to let whoever has it pass by the vaults guardians without a problem. The only problem was that Adamos didn't know what kind of guardians they were.

"Well, he better be right." Adamos says as he sees the vault up ahead. The vault was like a fortress built into the cavern wall. Off to both sides of the fortress were two large caves that seemed empty, if not for the barely audible growls he heard.

Not wanting to wait around for whatever was inside he moved a bit faster towards the single door large that lead inside. It stood a good three feet taller than him, clearly to be used by a larger person.

Quietly opening it enough to peek inside Adamos saw that the room was empty, which meant that this was probably where those two were stationed. As quietly as he could he slipped inside and swam as stealthily as he could, sticking to the forts walls and darker corners.

Luckily for him the places layout was pretty simple. With one large room meant to lead to the vault and multiple rooms were on either side. Not wanting to spend too long since the room was empty, he swam as quickly as he could to the farthest door at the end of the hall. Only to swim towards the ceiling as a duo of guards swim into the room. Pressing himself as far against the stone surface as possible he watches with held breath as they pass below. Silently counting his blessings and then making a mental note to look up more often he moves over to the large doors, pulling them open and slips inside. Adamos lets out a breath of relief as he quietly closed the door and turns around.

To find a trio of spears all pointed at his throat.

"Who are you!?" One of the three guards demands. His armor having golden outlines indicated that he was likely the one in charge of the fort.

"I'm a new recruit?" Adamos tried to sound convincing but clearly by the way that the spears inched closer they weren't buying it. "Guess it's plan B." He muttered and broke out into a grin as he batted away their spears and lunged forward, catching one of the guards off balance he landed a devastating punch right in his face with enough force to knock him back a dozen meters. The shock of the sudden speed made the other two pause long enough for Adamos to grab the fallen spear and jab at the closest opponent, which wasn't the commander.

The guard managed to put up a half decent defense and haphazardly block the spear but was unable to retaliate to the spartan kick to the gut followed by a knee to the face.

"ALL SOLDIERS WE HAVE AN INTRUDER! I REPEAT WE HAVE AN IN—" The commander screams into a small glowing red marble but was cut off as Adamos grips his helmet with one hand and smashes him face first into the floor.

"That's enough of that." Adamos sighs as he begins to discard his armor as there was no point in wearing it more since it seemed as if he was about to have company. "Now let's see what I came for." Adamos muses as he looks to the center of the room, where the only noticeable object sits on a pedestal.

A large blue ball, roughly the size of a soccer ball, sits in the center of the room, atop a pedestal. Its blue coloring swirling and shifting like a current of water. The object, whatever it is just seems to radiate raw power in wave, making Adamos shiver in its presence. "Haven't felt this jumpy since I met the primordials. Though I must say I never suspected for this to be what the fuss was all about."

Not wanting to waste any longer than necessary Adamos scoops the ball under his arm and draws his sword, which is far more suited for one armed combat. His ears then perk as he hears the guards now all converging on his location. A smirk spreads across his face as celestial light spreads across his blade. Since stealth was out the window, flashy destruction was the way to go as Adamos swings the sword in a powerful diagonal slash, causing a crescent of celestial energy to fly from the blade and destroy the doors and injury anyone on the other side.

Immediately the young god swims past the wreckage and injured bodies and to the front entrance.

"—lease. The. Guardians." A guard groans out before succumbing to unconsciousness, but Adamos pays it no attention as he shoulder charges the front entrance and out into the cavern. He pushes himself further as the prospect of this ending is all too appealing. He was in such a rush he barely registered the feeling of his hairs standing on end and the sirens screaming out of danger in his mind. Acting on instinct he swims to the side quickly he narrowly avoids the massive set of teeth that would have bitten him in half, but that couldn't be said about the set of claws that knocked him into a wall.

With a sharp gasp in pain he opens his eyes and immediately swims out of the way as whatever is attacking him tries to take another bite.

Now with enough distance between him and his attackers, the godling is able to take in their appearance.

The two creatures in front of him are massive, with both being around 18 meters tall or roughly 60 feet. Their bodies looked similar to that terrible American Godzilla remake, with their bodies being some kinda raptor, crocodile hybrid, although it's face more closely resembled a sharks.

* * *

I lean out of my seat as I begin to shovel popcorn into my mouth.

* * *

"Holy shit." Adamos says in awe, but the smile on his face doesn't seem to fade. He tightens his grip on his sword and the blue orb. He then swims out of the way as the seconds guardian makes a lunge at him. The flow of water as the beast passes him pushes Adamos off course but not before charging the energy around his sword and slashing at the guardians side, leaving a large, albeit shallow gash in its side as it was barely able to cut through the scaly armor.

The guardian roars in pain as it's tail swings at Adamos who barely dodges it. The young god tenses and turns around to feel the massive roar from the first guardian roar directly at him. The volume so loud and the proximity so close that he screams out in pain and shuts his eyes.

This proves a mistake as it gives the second guardian the chance to come around with jaws wide and swallowing him whole with a massive audible snap.

* * *

The snap makes me jump and the popcorn spill. "Holy shit!" I shout and then look at my brother. "You got eaten by that thing."

Adamos scowls in disgust at the image but doesn't say anything.

* * *

The guardian growls as it shakes its head vigorously. It's face seems to contort into a scowl as it tenses. Then slowly its mouth begins to open, with Adamos inside of its mouth, his body covered in wounds and golden blood flowing into the water around him. His face red with strain and rage as he uses one arm to forcefully open the guardian mouth while holding the orb in his other hand. His sword being held between his teeth.

Adamos's muscles bulge under the strain as he slowly overpowers the beasts bite, but it proved for not as the guardian rams the top of its head into a cavern wall, forcefully closing its mouth and swallowing its prey.

* * *

Inside the guardians mouth the sudden force causes the jaw to snap shut and for Adamos's feet to slip on the creatures tongue. It was only due to sheer luck and instinct that he was able to avoid losing an arm in the creatures teeth, but at the moment he wasn't able think about that as he slid down the guardians throat.

Not wanting to end up a resident in a monsters stomach as he had heard the stories of being trapped in a stomach too many times from his family, he grabs his sword from his mouth and stabs it into the guardians esophagus. The blade sinking deep into the internal flesh.

* * *

Outside the guardian lets out a strangled gurgle as it began to thrash and claw at its throat. Then slowly its throat begins to glow brighter by the second until a flaring, shining light erupts out of its throat looking like a blowtorch.

A muffled roar sounds out as the light travels across the throat, cutting it halfway in off, with the only thing keeping it tethered to the body being the spinal cord.

Standing on the bloody remains of the guardian's neck stump was a physically haggard and beaten Adamos. His body covered in wounds and stained with monster blood and godly ichor. He looks as if he is about to collapse at any moment, but he firmly keeps the treasure pressed to his chest and the sword in his tight grip. The blue orb during this time seems to be faintly pulsing at a constant and steady pace, but the godling doesn't seem to notice it as he scans his surroundings for the second guardian.

A roar behind him makes Adamos turn around to find a massive rock about to crash into him. In the split second he charges his sword once more and uses it to cleave the stone into pieces. But the guardian was no mere mindless beast as it used the floating pieces as a smoke screen to claw at the godling.

With wide eyes he turns and exposes his back in order to huddle over the orb for protection as that was the direction it was coming from and he had no way to block the claw with his sword or even dodge. The guardians claws tear three large gashes of flesh on his back and the arm holding the orb.

"GGGAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Adamos screams in pain as he is sent careening into the seafloor and crashing through a pile of old bones.

Adamos opens his eyes and he feels his body on fire. Inwardly cursing at everything. Especially how he couldn't drop the orb since with the beast thrashing about in a rampage the odds of it crushing the treasure was high.

The godling picks himself out the pile of bones and picks up his sword, which lay at his feet. The guardian swims straight at him with claws and jaw wide to finish him off. Adamos grits his teeth and coats his sword in celestial energy. He had only one chance for this to work but he would be dead otherwise if it didn't.

As the beast got closer the young god raised his sword like a javelin and threw it with all his might. The blasphemy of a projectile flies like a shooting star and pierces the guardian through his eye and out the back of its skull, causing it to come crashing down in front of him. His sword striking the wall on the opposite side of the trench cavern, becoming nothing more than a irreparable hunk of scrap metal. as it strikes rock and causing massive amounts of destruction.

"RRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" The young god let out a roar of victory before slumping over and lazily swimming off with a tired smile on his face.

That is until the rumbling of moving rocks echo from behind him. The sound like a grenade going off to his ears as he freezes in place and looks back. The guardian slowly rises from its laying position as it fixes Adamos with it's one eye full of hate.

Adamos doesn't even wait as he immediately begins to star step away. His body coated in celestial light and making him a beacon in the darkness, but he didn't care as the guardian was already chasing after him. The beast having lost any and all forms of self-control in the sole desire to kill the godling as it destroys the surrounding walls and trampling other sea monsters in its chase.

Adamos pushes himself on as he goes through random tunnels in order to make it back up to the upper layer of the sea where hopefully the open enough space will allow him to grab a weapon of some sort that he left up there. But at the moment his body was suffering through immense pain and exhaustion.

"COMEONCOMEONCOMEONCOMEON!" He speaks through grit teeth as he pushes his star step too the limit that his exhausted body can handle. The sounds of roaring never fading from his ears as runs.

Then a brief glimmer of hope appears when he see's a faint trickle of light appear out of the corner of his vision and Adamos makes a sharp turn that almost gets him eaten, and he races towards light.

Closer!

Closer!

Adamos chants in his head as he reaches the light, which is a narrow passage and bursts through it and out into the vast open upper area of the ocean. The area even being familiar as near where he originally entered the trench from.

'Wait? Then that means…" Adamos looks and it only takes him a brief moment to realize that Aphrodite was just a ways away, watching him as he came out of the trench. The breaking of stone interrupts his thoughts as he realizes that the guardian is still after him. Its rage and determination far more than he first thought.

"Dammit why won't you just DIE!" Adamos shouts as he faces the rupturing guardian. His free hand covers itself in celestial flames and its intensity begins to increase rapidly in response to the young god's anger until it reaches a peak and elongates, turning into a long glowing lance made of fire and light. Without even thinking of what he was doing or what was happening, Adamos throws the lance with all his might. The projectile flying twice as fast as his sword and with far more force straight into the monsters face as it charged forward with jaws wide to bite him in half.

The guardian couldn't even react in time as the lance reaches it and then explodes in a mighty radiance. The explosive force upends large swaths of sea floor and above the surface a massive pillar of water reaches towards the very sky. But Adamos notices none of this as his close proximity catches him in the blast radius. He clutches the blue treasure to his person in an iron embrace as his body hits and bounces across the sea floor until breaking through a large stone. The sound of a voice calls out to him, but it is distorted and fading. And a head of blonde hair enters his view before he passes out.

* * *

"Adamos!" Aphrodite screams in terror as she watches her friend get hit by the massive blast that he caused. Her limbs moving through the water as she tries to move to her friend as fast as she can.

It didn't take much effort to find him she found him as she simply followed the massive groove carved into the sand to his unconscious form next to a broken boulder. Her mind begins to panic as she looks over all of his numerous injuries. "NONONONONONO!" She begins to hyperventilate as she sees all the godly and monster blood that covers him as well as how much he is bleeding.

"W-Wait. H-He said t-that there were healers on the surface." Aphrodite mutters in a panic as she doesn't know what to do exactly. "Please work." She pleads as she closes her eyes and begins to call on whatever godly power she has. Ever since they meet Adamos has been helping her with a bit of control of some of the godly powers she didn't even know she had.

The water around them began to morph, taking form beneath the two immortals and lifting to the surface above the waves. Aphrodite grabbing Adamos's free hand and gripping it tightly, as if she were afraid that he would vanish at any moment.

When the rising stops, Aphrodite opens her eyes to see that they are sitting on top of the waves. She looks around until she spots a mass of land nearby, and not trusting the cushion of water to last very long she uses her powers to gather sea water and sea foam into a form and transform it. The mass shifts and morphs until it morphs into a massive seashell large enough for the two of them. "Just hold on Adamos. You'll get better. I promise." Aphrodite says full of emotion to her unconscious friend, and for the first-time tears are allowed to freely be seen rolling down her beautiful face. With her will the waves and wind push the floating shell towards land.

However, neither were aware of the oddities going on with the blue orb that Adamos was still clutching to his side as the orb greedily sucks up all of the blood that freely flow out of the young god. Its pulses softening but continuing at a steady rate.

Then the screen fades to black.

* * *

As the movie ends, I lean back and rest in the comfy seat. "So, on a scale of one to ten how gross is it being swallowed by a monster?"

Adamos makes a grossed face. "Its easily a seven, maybe seven and a half."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If your lucky enough to avoid being ripped apart by teeth, then the worst part is the smell."

"Yeah…but it was cool to see you Hercules your way out of it." I said and Adamos gave me a weird look. "You know, that animated movie by Disney. The scene where the hydra eats him?"

"I know the one." Adamos scowls. "This came first so if anything, that blowhard pulled a me." He said with a serious huff. I raised a brow at his attitude at something so petty but shook it off. He can be weird about the most minuscule things.

"You know I'm still surprised that you meet Aphrodite down at the bottom of the ocean." I commented.

He shrugs. "She was born from Uranus's remains when they fell into the ocean. It's not exactly out there that she wouldn't know anything and just wandered around when you think about it."

I nodded in acknowledgement until something came to mind. "Wait. Isn't that painting of Aphrodite on the seashell supposed to represent when she first came to land?"

Adamos let out a small laugh. "Never would have thought you would make that connection,"

"Hey!"

"But yeah. The island we landed on was Cyprus. And like all mortal perceptions of godly events they are both wrong and right at the same time. We did use the winds and waves to land on Cyprus, but Aphrodite wasn't alone, and she wasn't naked. Granted the clothes she wore were barely anything at all, but she wasn't completely naked." Adamos explained.

"Okay. One last question."

"Shoot."

"During different parts…how did you know the parts that you weren't there for?"

…

…

…

…

"I'm putting in the next movie."

"Wha—Hey answer the question!"

"NEXT MOVIE!" He shouted as he began to work on the projector.

**A/N: Okay al you sexy beasts out there. This is pretty late in coming out and for that I am once again sorry. Personal issues got in the way. Things like how I'm planning on moving out of my apartment, school issues, sudden minor diagnosis of depression. Simply things. But things are getting better. I've managed to get back into a bunch of hobbies that make me feel happy. **

**This entire chapter has just been a bunch of rewrites for me since in some points I just find myself writing and writing and then going back to read it over but having to re do it. Sometimes I just get an idea of an entire scene that I want in the chapter and I have to find a way to shift the story around to fit it. Sometimes its worth it and sometimes its not and I have to scrap it.**

**Anyways I read a found a few reviews that I think I can answer.**

**Theyessirnosir: Yes Percy will have more powers than just earth and water however he won't have all of Adamos's powers. I plan to bring up why later.**

**Paramonidos: No I won't do Perzoe. Sorry that's not what I'm really going for.**

**Jason wu: Firsts things first. Adamos knows more than Athena but that doesn't make him smarter than Athena. I'd say they fluctuate between whose smarter since Adamos is incredibly creative and knows more. But Athena is the goddess of wisdom so if presented with a problem, she is more likely to come up with the correct answer than Adamos. They are equals in intelligence. The main difference is that Adamos is a people person and knows how to sway others. Two, any mention of powers before the banishment are how strong Adamos was at the time. In the current period Adamos's powers have not been recorded or mentioned so no one but he and I know just how powerful he actually is. Three, Nyx knows where Adamos is he still vacations at her home every other century. Also, I never said that Athena and Adamos never had sex nor did I say that they ever did. ;p**


	25. Chapter 24 Movie Night IV

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 24**

**Movie night IV: The age of Gods and Heroes**

"You know what the best part of this is?" I asked rhetorically. "The fact that I can eat movie theater popcorn, candy, and soda and NOT have to worry about cavities." I said as I deposit a sour straw into my mouth.

"Really? That's the best part of all of this?" I nodded at Adamos's question. The response put him into a mock sense of hurt in his expression. "And here I thought that you were enjoying our brotherly bonding."

"I mean that's a plus too I guess." I shrug.

…

…

…

"Give me that." Adamos said as he forcibly grabbed a handful of the blue sour straw candies and ate them in one go, effectively leaving me with only a few left.

"Hey!" In response I counterattack him with a pillow. But that was only phase one of the plan. With his vision thoroughly blinded I jumped over and snatched his plate of nachos from him. It was a swift and decisive maneuver of retaliation.

Adamos tosses the pillow away but his eyes widen when he sees what I did. His mouth still full of candy, he quickly chews and swallows. "Give that back!" He yells, which in turn only makes me eat faster than before. I try to move out of the way as he lunges at me, but he's too fast and manages to latch onto my legs. "Give me back my nachos Percy."

"No!" I say defiantly, despite my mouth being full. I extend the hand holding the tray away from him as he tries to pull me closer to grab it, but I didn't give him the chance as I kept squirming my legs and using my free hand to push back. It wasn't a lasting plan, I knew that, but I hoped that it would give me enough time to think of something else.

Sadly, that next plan of action would never come as Adamos made another lunge. The surprise loosened my grip on the nachos. The two of us watched as the world seemed to slow down as they fell. I could practically see the look of sheer horror on Adamos's face as the food hits the floor. Then suddenly the world seemed to speed back up as be both stare at the mess.

"My perfect nachos." I hear him whisper in disbelief. He then lets me up only to shift into a sulking position. "They were taken before their time. They were innocent."

"Geez I didn't kno—"

"SHHHHH!" I try to apologize but Adamos cuts me off. "Let me mourn." He loudly whispers before he then goes back to his weirdness.

"_Ooook."_ I think to myself as I reach over and grab the remote to start the next quest.

* * *

The scene opens to darkness. It was pitch black with the presence of muffled voices being the only other form of presence in the void along with Adamos who seems to be slowly regaining consciousness. Steadily the voices began to clarify and sound familiar…and very angry.

-ucking care. I'll kill him!" This voice was deep. Masculine.

"You'll do no such thing." The second one melodic and feminine, despite its cold yet furious tone.

"He's already infected you with a parasite and now he tries to steal from me." The first voice growls.

A sensation of cold washes over everything as Adamos's body shivers involuntarily. "If you talk about her like that," The already ice-cold tone seemed to hit absolute zero. It sent a shiver of fear down the spines of all those that heard it, even beyond the safety of the screen. "I will skin you alive and beat you to death with a flail made from your own hide."

That brief shock sent Adamos's instincts haywire. His fight or flight instinct kicked in in the presence of such danger that if forced him back to consciousness.

Adamos bolts with a gasp for air an immediately regrets it as his body is wracked with large amounts of pain. His face contorts into a grimaces as he hunches over.

"Ada!"

"Adam!"

Two voices shout out as all present hear his cry of pain. Gently hands steady him as he is slowly pushed back into a laying position, but his body propped up into a sitting position. No longer having to struggle to stay up the young god is finally able to open his eyes.

He was… in a bed. His body was heavily bandaged and the sour earthy smell that filled his nose indicated that the bandages were covered in medical salve of some kind. His eyes focused as he looked around him. At his sides were two equally distressed goddesses.

Aphrodite was looking like she hadn't slept in days with the way her hair seemed all over the place. Nyx on the other side looked just as tired but more presentable. In front of him however were three less glad looking figures. A furious Pontus, a stone-faced Gaia, and a…boy on a mount?

No that wasn't right. There was no head for the mount, rather in its place was the torso of a young boy who couldn't be much older that fourteen to fifteen years of age.

* * *

"Wait? Is that…Chiron?" I asked as I looked at the figure on the screen. He looked years if not decades younger, but it was definitely him. He had the same brown hair and eyes. He was missing the beard that he now sported, and he looked very much like a nervous wreck. Which is kinda understandable when in the presence of multiple primordials.

"Huh?" Adamos lifted his head up from his nacho funeral. "Oh, uh yeah." He didn't elaborate and instead just sat down, still slightly sulking.

* * *

"ADAMAREYOUOKAYYOUWERECOVEREDINBLOODANDIDIDN'TKNOWWHATTODOANDIFOUNDTHISWEIRDKIDANDTHESEPEOPLESHOWEDUPAN—" Aphrodite began to speak in rambles before Adamos put a hand over her mouth.

"Can someone else explain what's going on?" Adamos asked in confusion to the group around him.

"Ada," Nyx spoke from his side. She had a pleases smile on her face which the godling returned. "You have been unconscious for about four days." At the Adamos raised a brow in surprise.

"Yes." Pontus butted into the conversation and fixed the god with a sharp glare. "And now that he's awake, he can die like a man."

"You even think of trying it and I'll—"

"Enough. Both of you." The commanding voice of Gaia pierces through the tension. Both primordials back down only slightly as they both knew that Gaia could intervene, and a three-way brawl between the primordials was not something that reality needed. "Pontus." The earth goddess's gaze flicked to the male primordial, her eyes as hard as stone. "The boy has completed your task exactly as you wished. There is no reason to seek out a conflict." She reasoned.

"He's already tainted it with his blood! He—" Pontus shouted but was cut off by Gaia.

"Was unconscious at the time that it happened. Anything that happened was HER choice." Gaia emphasized that one word, making Pontus visibly deflate.

Pontus turned his gaze to the injured god. He didn't move, not that he would need to kill the godling, but instead sent him a glare. "You had better take care of her or else I will end you." Pontus disappeared in a plume of water and leaving a large puddle on the floor.

"Good riddance." Nyx mumbled.

"Can someone PLEASE explain what's going on?" Adamos explained in exasperation.

"I think it would be best if the two of you leave this to us." Gaia spoke to Aphrodite and Chiron. While her tone was pleasant, there was an underlying tone that wouldn't take no for an answer. Cautiously they both left. Aphrodite for fear of what would happen to her friend, and Chiron because he didn't seem to know what was happening. Gaia turned back to the wounded patient once she was sure that it was just the three of them. "It seems that we have a lot to talk about young man."

Adamos unconsciously flinched at that. "Please don't say it like that. It makes me sound like I'm in trouble."

"That is because you most certainly are." Gaia spoke with a matter of fact tone that made the young god shrink a bit. It was basically the same feeling he got whenever his mother was disappointed in him. Nyx just chuckles at how uncomfortable he was, even when he sent a small glare in her direction. "Or at least you would have been had we not been here."

"That seems to happen regardless." Adamos muttered truthfully but a little exasperated at the roller coaster of emotions that Gaia was putting him through. "But, thank you for healing me."

"We only half healed you actually." Nyx spoke. "It was the kid that was in the corner that kept you alive until we came."

"Although we did have to use some of those phoenix feathers in you possession and merge them with your heart in order to fully save your life, otherwise you would be reforming in Tartarus." Gaia explained. But Adamos just internally groaned at the fact that they went through and used his stuff.

* * *

"Really? That's what your worried about?" I asked incredulously. I mean seriously he was on deaths door and he's focused on random things like that.

"Shove it you." He snapped back but there was no actual bite in his remark. "Do you know how hard it is to find primal phoenix feathers?" He asked rhetorically. "Really hard." I just rolled my eyes at his cheapness and went back to watching.

* * *

"You should consider yourself lucky Ada." Nyx scolded. "All those wounds and with the amount of blood you lost should have killed you. It's a miracle that you were even alive. But I guess the phoenix's regenerative abilities aren't anything to scoff at. And don't even get me started on Pontus's desire to drown you."

"Yeah, what was that about?"

"Did Pontus ever tell you what he had you steal?" Gaia asked, and sighed when Adamos shook his head. "That treasure that my son had in his possession was in simple terms the essence of a primordial. Pontus's wife Thalassa to be exact."

Adamos raised a brow. "That explains the power that was rolling off the thing." That got a nod from the two goddesses.

"The problem was that during the time of your retrieval and our arrival…" The earth goddess hesitated to pick the right words. "Something occurred. The essence of a primordial, even one that has…passed…like Thalassa is incredibly powerful and still holds sway over its domains. Evidently some of her will must have been left behind because the essence chose to absorb and mix with you essence, or rather the ichor from your wounds."

"So, what does that mean?" Adamos asked. His gaze locking with the goddesses.

"It means that you're going to be a father." Adamos's eyes widened.

"Of two to be exact." Nyx added on, but this surprised both others in the room, although only one of them got the meaning.

"So, the egg has twins?" Adamos asked. Nyx blinked once and then face palmed. Her hand fast tracked to the back of his head.

"No, you idiot. I'm having the other child." She gives him a pointed look. Adamos just remains silent at the news. The only indication that he heard was that his eyes had widened. The expression stretched on for a while until Nyx waved a hand in front of his face. "Yeah, he's passed out." She said when she didn't get a response.

"With both his injuries and the news, I'm not surprised." Gaia spoke as she eyed him over. "On another note, I think I'm beginning to see what you see in him." Nyx edged closer and wrapped him in an embrace. His head buried in between her cleavage, a position that any man would have enjoyed immensely, but the young god couldn't because he was still unconscious due to shock.

"You better not try anything. He's mine." Nyx's narrowed gaze bore into the earth goddess, but there was a surprising lack of heat behind the look.

"You made that very clear after the first meeting." Gaia rolled her eyes at her fellow primordial. "And the second, and yesterday."

"And don't you forget it." The primordial of night said with a huff.

Yet another roll of the eyes from Gaia. "Of course, though I am curious as to what the future has for him. He may not realize it, but he is far different from the other immortals. I honestly can't tell if its some sort of cosmic mistake when he was born, or if Ananke and the three fates have spontaneously decided to have fun."

"If there's one thing that we do know. It's that things will be interesting with him around." Nyx says fondly as she strokes his hair.

"Well I'll leave you to him." Gaia gave a simple wave as she departed but stopped as she reached the door. "Before I leave though, tell him that he needs to head north in a week if he wants to complete his last quest. And that he needs to take the boy with him." With that the earth goddess walked away, disappearing into the ground as she walked.

It only took a few hours for Adamos to wake from his shock, after which came numerous questions and some joyful cuddling. After that Adamos fussed over Nyx as soon as he was able to walk, but that ended when both Nyx and Aphrodite put him through a wall after he tried to handle the cooking. Speaking of the two goddesses, once they had a nice chat they got along surprisingly well. A bit too well at times if you ask Adamos as he once accidentally walked in on the two as Nyx was teaching Aphrodite how to use her 'feminine' assets to get what she wants. Against his better instincts he decides not to intervene and instead stay near the egg that's apparently his child.

Yeah. Totally not a weird thought.

Speaking of children. Nyx's pregnancy was coming along splendidly, according to her. It should only be a couple of months before the baby is born. Normally you would think that the two parents would be the most excited, but if you were to watch the three immortals you would confuse the goddess Aphrodite for the soon to be parent with how she practically bounces off the walls, muttering aunt Aphy under her breath. Clearly nothing was going to stop her. Adamos could only wonder at how his father, aunts, and uncle would react to the two new additions along with Aphrodite. Actually, he can imagine it pretty well.

Hera and Hestia would want the babies to call them Nanna or something and spoil them. Hades would be very uncomfortable at first as children aren't something that he's overly good with. Zeus and Demeter would barely care, although Zeus would probably try to get closer to Aph. His father Poseidon, well he'd probably start crying if they call him Granpaseidon.

The thought brings a chuckle to the young godlings lips as the screen shifts to Adamos walking in a forest, lost in his recent memories. He had left the two goddesses behind as Aphrodite still wanted to learn from the primordial of night as well as help in the babies delivery. Adamos wanted to be there as well, but Gaia gave him a deadline for his departure and Nyx was very persistent that he abide by it.

"If this is supposed to be the life of a hero, I pity the fool that tries to pursue it." Adamos said with a mirthful grin. His title of the first ever hero had always amused the god as when they first called him it, he had no idea of the trials and tribulations that he would have to deal with. He'd much rather be with the his future children, one of their mothers and his enthusiastic friend.

He turned to his travel companion, one who has been mostly silent for the week. Adamos learned that the half mount/half boy was named Chiron, and he seemed to be decently skilled with medicine and a bow. Not as much as he himself mind you, but for someone who was self-taught for about a year it was quite good. "So…what exactly are you?" Adamos decided to ask, deciding to toss manners and common courtesy out the window. A few days of silence and awkward glances were all he could take.

Chiron flinched at the question. He had been jumpy since he first came across the god and goddess and helped them. That then lead him to being trapped taking care of him as the primordials argued about what to do. No, he was currently being forced on some sort of 'quest' with the god in question. "I—I'm…"  
Adamos huffed in irritation as Chiron stumbled over his words. So many other conversations were exactly the same. Adamos trying to start one and Chiron stumbling over his own words. The godling was about to scream into the heavens at the uncomfortable atmosphere when a voice spoke up.

"He is what is referred to as a 'centaur.'" A female voice spoke from around them. Chiron seemed to tense, his hooved feet prancing around, showing how skittish he was, but he didn't run away and instead just shakily nocked an arrow in his bow. Adamos on the other hand was far more composed. His eyes locked onto a small corner of the forest around them. His gaze never wavering. His composure was rewarded as a small bolt of green energy flew directly at him.

Adamos just smirked as he lazily swatted it to the dirt ground with the spear that he had been carrying. "Cloaking spells are cheating you know." Adamos shouted with a smirk before turning to his companion. "Put that away before you hurt yourself." Adamos scolds Chiron as he jerks his aim back and forth with the bow in his hands.

"It's only cheating if you get caught." The female said in a sing song voice that seemed to come from everywhere. "But I guess you win this time." From behind the tree a woman walked out. Her black hair fell over her shoulders like a waterfall, highlighting her pale skin and emerald green eyes. Her red dress clung to her as she walked up Adamos. A mischievous smirk spread across her face as she stood before the god, who stood at least a full head taller than her. "Hello dear brother." The pair stared at each other in silence for a few moments.

"Hecate!" Adamos broke into a laugh as he scooped his sister into a hug, one that she didn't seemed to be prepared for.

"Let go of me you brute!" Hecate shouted as she beat him with weak fists though it all seemed to be a jest as she was smiling just like him, though a bit more subdued.

"What are you doing here?" Adamos asked as he put her down on her feet. "Shouldn't you be with mother?"

Hecate's grin fell a bit as she seemed to look a bit embarrassed. She let out a nervous chuckle as her foot toed the ground. "I…may have run away?"

"You…ran?"

"From the titans, yes." She confirmed.

"Why?" Adamos asked but there was no negative intent behind the question, only curiosity.

That seemed to set the Titaness off. "Because it's so stifling in Othrys," She groaned. "Everything is constantly watched, the four titans of the corners go around and try to do whatever they want, and don't even get me started on some of the stupid laws that _malaka_ of a king makes." She furiously spun on her foot and fixed the two males with furious eyes of poisonous green, her stare made both of them take a step back. "Do you know how many men stop by my home looking for an engagement? All because father is one of the generals of the titan army. Its all '_Hecate your magic is so…beautiful like you,' _or _'Come with me outside. Nature pales in comparison to your looks.'_" She lowered her voice in a mocking way. "Can you believe that? I don't need to none of that in my life. Bunch of jackasses."

The entire time Adamos was just nodding along, though Chiron seemed entirely lost. "So, what I'm hearing is, you need your big brother to stab someone." How Adamos came to that conclusion I will never know.

"Not at the moment." Hecate waved him off, somehow completely okay with the prospect of her secret brother going out and stabbing people for hitting on her. "So where are we going?" She asked.

Adamos raised a brow. "What do you mean we?"

"I'm going with you duh." She said it like the most obvious thing in the world. "Gaia asked me to come with you. Said it would help me get in with your dad and his siblings." She shrugged.

"It would help," Adamos muttered as he thought it over. "I don't see why not. So, tell me what you've been up to." The two siblings began to walk and catch up after years of not seeing each other.

"H—Hey! Don't I get a say in if she comes along?" Chiron finally worked up the nerve to speak to the two immortals.

"No." They spoke in unison, with matching smirks before resuming their conversation.

Chiron's shoulders slumped as he trotted behind them. "Go with him on his quest, she said. You'll reach your potential, she said. It's your destiny, she said. Of course, Lady Gaia, I said." Chiron let out a weary sigh. "Why do I feel like its gonna get worse before it gets better."

The three questers traveled together north until they were able to find a boat waiting to take them across to Asia minor. The entire time Adamos taught Chiron how to use different weapons and other various skills that he had picked up while Hecate used this as a chance to teach him magic. Of course, the two siblings competed in the magic department, but the young centaur learned none the less. Their reasoning behind teaching young Chiron though wasn't really because they wanted to help him, but rather they didn't want to look after him as much. Quests like these meant that you couldn't really afford to watch over someone else's safety constantly.

Hecate took the news of Adamos's impending fatherhood very well.

Meaning she laughed at his impending misfortune and existential crisis.

Truly they were the model example of a sibling relationship.

* * *

"I don't see what's so wrong about it." Hecate asked as they continued to travel through Asia Minor. The three had traveled south from where they landed from their ship that they knew Gaia created for them.

"Because it's humiliating!" Chiron grumbled. His exchanges over the weeks with the two siblings had allowed for a level of comfortability that drew him from his reclusive shell.

"Come on. Just let me ride on you for a bit." Hecate asked.

"I SAID no!"

"But my feet are tired." Hecate whined and Chiron just threw his hands up and trotted ahead a bit faster.

"You know he's never going to say yes." Adamos spoke up with a smirk on his face.

"I know." Hecate returned with her own smirk, as if they both knew an untold joke. "But its always so funny to rile him up."

"Whatever just make sure not to torment him...to much." Adamos trailed off as a pungent smell hits his nose making him retch. Hecate seems confused at what her brother was doing until the same smell hit her, making her force down the desire to throw up. "Chaos, what is that?" Adamos said in disgust as he held his nose.

"I don't know. I think I'm gonna throw up." Hecate held her nose before weaving magic together. It took only a few seconds until the smell dissipated. "Where's the kid? I can only imagine how bad he's having it."

"There he is." Adamos pointed of a ways and Hecate turned to watch the smaller form of Chiron vomiting off to the side. His desire to get away had led him further into the smell and he hit his limit. The two siblings huffed in amusement and sympathy as they took their time walking over to the young centaur.

"Heeyyy buuudddyyy." Adamos said in a placating tone, as if he was trying to soothe his comfort.

"Just…don't" Chiron retched as he keeled over. Hecate rolled her eyes before placing her hand on Chiron's shoulder and spreading the scent removing magic to him. It took a few minutes as the smell lingered in Chiron's nose before it fully dissipated. A quiet thanks was spoken to the sorceress, who just shrugged in response.

"I seriously hope that this smell doesn't have anything to do with what we're looking for." Hecate groaned as her brother let out a sigh. His thoughts mirroring her own.

"Knowing my luck, it just might be."

"Then I'm blaming you." She shot him a half-hearted glare. " And the sooner we get this over with the better."

The three companions, now being able to ignore the horrid smell continued their journey. As time passed so too did the scenery. What was once vibrant green forests, slowly turned to a dead brown and black, the soil became dusty and cracked, like the life-giving nutrients were completely used. Even the occasional stream yielded no fish or any form of sustenance. The water appeared murky and shimmered like oil had been poured in. "What's happening here?" Chiron voiced the silent question as he observed the desolate surroundings.

"We must be getting close." Adamos absentmindedly spoke, but it was enough to draw the attention of the other two, a desire for an explanation in their gazes. "The quest is to get rid of a monster. A Drakon of sorts that Gaia herself wants gone. Apparently, the thing has a nasty habit of poisoning everything around it."

"Chaos, that just sounds like a pain." Hecate groaned as her hand went straight to her face.

"Anything else we need to know?" Chiron asked, a slight weariness in his voice as he fidgeted with his bow.

"Apparently its super durable, so if you're going to stab it, stab it hard." The two of them just gave him a nonplussed look. "Also, its poisonous so don't let it bite you or something." The two stared at his back as he casually walked away. Hecate just shrugged and walked after him, not really caring about the lacking amount of helpful information.

"Sometimes I can never understand them." Chiron grumbled as he followed.

The group traveled until the sun set and rose, and with each step the rot worsened. The trees began to die off, leaving nothing but withered husks. The bones of wild beasts littered the ground. Everything just radiated death the further they went in. The sounds of growling echoed in their ears of the three questers. "You think we're close?" Hecate asked as she eyed the environment around her. The sky had shifted to a sickly grey despite the sun being up, the waters were stained brown, and the mountains that were once blanketed in thick blankets of green were now a dead black.

Adamos reached into his bag and pulled out a map. After a few moments of flipping and folding he managed to find the right section. "It shouldn't be too long. We just need to get past that mountain." He pointed off in a random direction.

"Uh…guys?" Chiron slapped Adamos in the chest to get his attention. When the godling looked from the map his eyes followed the young centaurs direction. "I don't think it's too far off." The three immortals watched as what they thought was stones and dead trees on the mountain began to move. The mass uncoiling around the mountain, its scales grinding like stones as it moves just enough to reveal its massive head. Its mouth was large enough to swallow each of them whole, its fangs were like spears and its talons like swords. A brief glimpse of its eye sent shivers down their spines as the poisonous yellow glanced over them. "That's a really big snake."

"Drakon actually," Adamos got a slap on the shoulder from his sister. "But yeah…it's a lot bigger than I thought." Adamos felt a tingle of wariness from looking at the beast. It was easily bigger than either of those sea monsters that he fought at the bottom of the ocean, big enough that it could bite their heads off. The smell of poison reached his nose, overpowering Hecate's magic. Something that he didn't think possible, because although he would never admit it aloud his sister was the better spell caster of the two of them.

"So, you have a plan? Right?" Hecate turns to her brother with a weary smile. "Right?" Her smile slowly drops at his lack of response. She lets out a sigh. "We're going to do something stupid aren't we?"

"Most likely," Adamos walks off, the other two following after him. "We first need an idea of what we are up against. The next mountain over is a bit taller so we'll have a vantage point. After that we'll see what we can work with." Neither of the others could argue with him and followed. Adamos always kept an eye on the massive beast, never once letting it from his sights. As if just taking his eyes away would cause it to disappear.

The three questers took their time making it up the mountain. By the time that they reached a good vantage point the sun had reached its highest. Currently Chiron was busy fletching more arrows from some decent material that he had gathered. Adamos and Hecate were looking over at their seemingly unaware target. "Any thoughts on how to deal with this?" Adamos asked his sister as his eyes seemed to glow unnaturally purple.

Hecate snapped her fingers and a small spell came to life before vanishing. Her eyes soon took the same glow. Both of them were using a spell to increase their vision, almost like hyper focused binoculars to allow them to see everything in perfect detail. "The thing is creating an unnatural dead zone around it." She explained. "Everything seems to be decaying away. Seems to be innately magic in nature. Most likely something it was born with. Any magic set up will most likely be tainted with other magics. How that will effect it is up to speculation."

"It's body is easily large enough to swallow any of us whole, but I'm fairly confident I can contest it in one on one combat, if it were a normal beast that is. Though that poison seems incredibly potent and I have a feeling that just about everything in it is poisonous. Blood, venom, and saliva being at the top of that list. I don't necessarily feel like testing if the stuff will burn on contact." Adamos grimaced at the thought as the two of them turned off the spell. "That's not even mentioning what the corpse will do if we leave it. Got anything we can use against it in the pretty little head of yours?"

Hecate rubbed her chin as she thought. "I think I might have something. Although your probably gonna be in a lot of pain during the process."

"Like, from the spell or just in general?"

"Does it matter?"

Adamos shrugged. "I'd like to think it does. How much will this hurt?"

"Well you'd better get ready; I'll make something to deal with the poison for you and we can come up with counter spells for the plan. This is gonna work better at night anyways." Hecate saunters off.

"Hecate? You didn't answer my question. Sis?" Adamos follows after his sister, who refuses to acknowledge his question.

* * *

"Are you two sure this will work?" Chiron asks as he swallows some pill that Hecate gave him. According to her it was supposed to act as both an antidote and a ward against the poison. Adamos had already taken his own a few moments ago so he figured that they wouldn't kill him although they did taste terrible.

"Of course, it will work." Hecate looked offended at the statement. "Are you doubting our planning capabilities?"

"I'm more doubting on whether or not you two are insane. Still trying to figure that out by the way."

"Sanity is overrated." Adamos waves his concerns off with a joking grin. "Besides you know what they say. No plan survives first contact."

"I have never heard anyone say that." Chiron deadpans.

"Well then, I'm taking credit." Adamos grinned. "Now, you know what to do?" He asked the young centaur.

"Yeah," Chiron took a deep breath and pulled a totem out of his bag. "Place these around the mountain."

"And keep watch if it wakes up." Adamos adds. "I really don't want to have to deal with it if we don't have too." Chiron nodded and put the totem back in his bag.

Adamos took a look at the mountain as the massive Drakon slept away. In order for Hecate's spell to work they needed to set up three separate circles. Chiron was to take the outer circle as he could travel the distances much faster than Hecate on foot and there were far more totems to place. Hecate would take the middle circle as it would allow her to see Chiron's work and adjust it if needed, and her magic would easily allow her to escape if attacked.

That left the hardest job to Adamos. He needed to set the wards closest to the Drakon without waking it up as well as endure that putrid stench. This was not going to be the most pleasant experience.

Adamos crawled along the side of the mountain as stealthily as he could. His breathing shallow, partly to make less sound and partly so that he didn't inhale to much of the retched fumes the monster was emitting. "Why the Tartarus did I let her convince me to do this." Adamos grumbled as he placed down one of the wards. "She's down there and she's all like 'Adamos you're the stealthiest' and 'You are fast enough to get away.' I swear she just didn't want to go near the smell." Adamos's nose scrunched up as he was hit with a new wave of nausea inducing air.

* * *

"Ok so how bad was it?" I couldn't help but ask.

"You ever been in as sewer?" Adamos asked but I could sense it was rhetorical. "Imagine sitting in a sewer on the hottest day of July." I had to resist the urge to retch at the thought and just turned back to watch.

* * *

Adamos was already through most of his wards before he turned back down the mountain. His eyes glowed as his vision sharpened and enhanced. His gaze locked onto Hecate and Chiron, who seemed to be done with Hecate's wards and were correcting his work.

Adamos couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as he watched Hecate smack the young centaur on the back of the head as she had to fix his mistake. After all, who puts them upside down three times in a row.

It was at that moment though that fate seemed to want to completely screw with his life as Adamos's vision returned to normal he accidentally kicked a rock with his foot.

CLACK!

CLACK!

CLACK!

Like the sound of gunshots in the still night the stone fell down the mountain.

Adamos's body tensed with each moment as the ground began to rumble. Like stones grinding together, Adamos winced as he watched parts of the mountain move. His mind screamed at him to move, but he knew there was no point. He was near the peak of the mountain, there was no cover for him to hide behind, no trees to cover him.

Pushing all forms of stealth aside Adamos's feet glowed with light as he dashed off at high speeds. His movements cracked the air as he moved. His feet grinding against the ground as he slid to a stop and placed the last ward into the ground. He almost let out a breath of relief when he felt warm air roll over his body.

Warm, putrid air.

Adamos's eyes looked up and met with poisonous yellow. Like a snap the massive beast struck forward like a viper, trying to swallow the godling, but Adamos was agile enough to evade out of the way and pull his spear into a combat stance. Runes flowed down the shaft of the weapon as its tip ignited in silver and gold flames.

'Time for plan B.' He thought to himself as he lunged forward, managing to stab the Drakon right under its eye. The beast reared back and shrieked in pain as the divine energy allowed the weapon to pierce its thick scales, dragging Adamos along with it.

"Ahhhhh!" Adamos screamed as he held on for dear life. His body whipping back and forth.

At the bottom of the mountain Hecate and Chiron heard the shrieks and screams from the top of the mountain. They watch as the Drakon flails it head angrily while a small speck of light followed it. Hecate's hand hits her face in an easily practiced motion. "I swear I can't leave him alone for a moment." Her expression turns serious. "Set up the rest of the wards and don't screw it up."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just a bit of sibling bonding." The goddess speaks to quickly to hear and she disappears, the air cracking and shattering around her. Chiron takes a moment to shake himself from his stupor before trotting off to finish his job.

Above the raging battle between god and monster the air cracked as Hecate shattered into existence. Her dress billows as seemingly stands on thin air, her hands illuminate with wisps of power. "Always the troublemaker dear brother. Always leaving it to me to bail you out and pick up your messes." She seemingly scolds him to no one, but although her words seemed accusatory, the excited grin speaks otherwise of her feelings. "!" Hecate chants in an unknown tongue as she raises her hands into the air. The air begins to condense in one spot before igniting into a ball of flames. She didn't call out or hesitate in launching the spell at her target.

The Drakon so distracted with the godling that has his spear int its face that it doesn't notice that inferno until it strikes it in the face, causing it to stagger. Adamos on the other hand did notice his sister's handy work and readily flees out of the blast radius. He blurs into existence next to his sister, his feet aflame with celestial light. His spear rested on his shoulder, silver and gold wisps trailing off of it. "What? No warning?" He asked with a smirk.

"Like that would kill you." She rolled her eyes at him, but her own smirk was a mirror of his. "Since you're the supposed expert, and I believe we have a few minutes before the child is done setting up, how do we go about this?"

Adamos looks at his spear and lets out a sigh. A bit of the blood had managed to get through the aura he had around his spear. His eyes look at the damaged parts, the singed shaft and the marks of corrosion taking form. He'd only get so many more uses out of the weapon before it erodes away. "Physical assault will only go so far. My weapons won't last long enough to get through its scales to do anything remotely fatal. Same with magic, those scales are more durable than we thought and along with its natural agility…" Adamos didn't need to finish for Hecate to understand. This thing was by every definition a monster.

Baleful presence put a tingle through both their bodies. The siblings both look down as the Drakons piercing glare settles on them. "No rest for us it seems." Hecate's hands lit with magic.

Adamos's spear reignites with vigor as he levels it at his target. "We can rest after we kill it." The two of them share an ecstatic smile as Adamos charges forward like a streaking comet. He thrusts his spear forward only to miss the massive creature by an inch. His eyes widen as out of the corner of his vision a massive claw barrels his way, ready to crush him underneath. A quick pivot of the foot has him escaping by a hair as he dashes away, this repeats as the second claw comes down resulting in a pattern of dodges as the Drakon continuously tries to crush him underfoot.

Up above Hecate weaves her hands through the air, making glowing shapes and writing appear and connect in intricate and elaborate ways that make the finished result look like masterful artwork. She claps her hands together once she finishes, causing the spell craft to glow brighter and brighter till it explodes. Bolts of lightning fall like rain on the Drakon. The force of the spell strong enough to level the peak of the mountain, making a massive dust cloud. The only indication that the beast lived were the pained screeches.

The Drakon figuring that it had enough of the magical bombardment coiled its body. Its muscles tensed before snapping straight and using its powerful tail, smashing through boulders and using the debris like a form of scatter shot against its airborne enemy.

Hecate's eyes widen as the stones came at her at high velocities. She immediately puts up a barrier around herself deflecting the projectiles. Each one hitting her shield with the force of a cannonball, the force powerful enough and numerous enough that eventually Hecate's barrier broke under the strain.

"Hecate!" Adamos shouted as he saw his sister fall from the sky. He tossed his spear away as it was nothing more than a rotting stick at that point. He had gotten many good strikes in before it was made useless, if the numerous wounds on the Drakons underside and front limbs were any indication. But right now, merely stabbing it and leaving minor wounds wasn't going to cut it. Its attention was on his sister and he knew without a doubt that it would go for the kill. His mind raced before he locked onto the one thing that he could use to save his sister.

The godling quickly dashed over to a massive boulder. One that was three times his height and five times his arms width. His arms wrapped as much as they could around the massive slab of stone. His muscles bulged as his fingers dug into the stone, carving small trenches. The boulder left the ground and with a mighty roar, Adamos threw it as hard as he could, the boulder flying like a ninety-mph fast ball as it left his grip. The Drakon didn't even know what hit it as the boulder collided with its face, knocking it over and even going so far as to knock a few of its teeth out. The Drakon glares at him with enough fury to burn hell, to which Adamos responds with a scowl that seems borderline feral, and eyes that burned with wrath. "Yeah you fucker!" He shouts and draws his sword. There was nothing truly special about it, but he hoped it would last longer than his spear since it was made from celestial bronze as opposed to his spear which was merely enchanted. "Come at me!"

The Drakon rose to it full height, its neck bulging. Adamos's eyes widened and he put up the strongest barrier he could in the short time he had. The beast opened its jaw and let loose a stream of corrosive acid. The acid collided with the barrier, not being able to penetrate it but splattering all around the area. At first Adamos was confused, the acid, while potentially lethal with its corrosion, wasn't in a large enough quantity or even prayed forcefully enough to break his barrier. All of a sudden, a noxious smell hit his nose, putrid enough that he felt his eyes begin to water. All around him the remains of the regurgitated acid were letting off visible fumes into the air.

Adamos hears a sudden grinding sound as he focuses on the Drakon once more only to have his jaw drop. The beast was currently slashing at the ground with its claws, breaking apart rocks but more importantly creating sparks. "Oh shi—" Adamos only then realized what was happening as he tried to run as far off to the side and away from the puddles of acid that he could, but he was too late as one of the stray sparks hit a pool of acid, igniting it.

The sudden ignition caused the other pools to combust rapidly. The explosion hitting Adamos and propelling him through a boulder and further down the mountain. His body colliding with multiple rocks on the way down before coming to a stop. Slowly he rose, his body covered in wounds that seemed to be slowly healing. He blinked at the suddenness of it. "That's new." He muttered to himself as he watched them close, most likely due to the phoenix feathers fused into his body but now wasn't the time to question it. The sound of rumbling getting closer meant that he didn't have enough time for questions, but hopefully it was enough for Hecate to get back on her feet.

Adamos lifted his head to see a gaping maw descend upon him. He grit his teeth in frustration. He refused to accept this outcome. To let this worthless monster eat him. Fury filled his veins as he forced his body to catch the jaws that could easily crush a boulder to pieces. His muscles screamed against the force, then with quick thinking he took the sword in his hand and stabbed. Stabbed the beast in the only place that he knew it would hurt.

Right into the empty space where its fang used to be.

The Drakon reeled back in pain and Adamos refused to be flung off and followed it. Letting go of his grip on the beasts jaws, the godling climbed until he reached the top of the Drakons head, right before its eyes. And with a partially melted sword, covered in acidic venom he stabbed and stabbed and stabbed in one of the beasts eyes. The Drakon would have thrashed and rolled its body but it soon found its body restrained by ethereal chains.

A very frustrated Hecate floated into the sky once again with a multitude of chains seemingly connected to glowing spaces in the air around her each wrapping around the Drakon.

"How much longer!?" Adamos shouted to his sister as he placed his hand on top of the Drakons head. A magic circle imprinted itself on the beasts head and from it a multitude of chains wrapped around the beast. Though these were a silver and gold color as compared top his sisters that radiated a purple aura.

"It's ready!" Hecate shouted in response as Adamos hopped off the Drakons head and pulled on a ghostly chain, dragging it down to the ground. The beast thrashed in its bindings, causing the two gods to strain themselves to keep it under control. "I'm going to have to divert power from my restraints to activate the spell."

"Do it!" Adamos grunted as he poured more energy into the chains. Suddenly the glow around Hecate's chains dulled down as she began to mutter and write in the air. Adamos was almost taken off his feet as the beast bucked. Its struggles renewed with passion as it felt its bindings weaken. "Stop…squirming you…bastard." Adamos grit his teeth as beads of sweat rolled down his face from the exertion. But it didn't seem to last as some of the ethereal chains began to snap and allowed the beast some freedom to move its neck.

Adamos making a split-second decision pumped as much power into his chains before running up and tackling the Drakon and wrestling its head back to the ground. It shrieked even louder as it tried to escape his grasp but Adamos's grip was like a vice.

Seemingly locked down and with no escape the Drakon made one last ditch effort to escape. Its frills expanded, both whipping Adamos in the face as the extended and obscuring his vision. It angled its head at the ground and began to regurgitate acid in large enough quantities to pool beneath it. It raised its claws, ready to strike down and ignite the pool in a reckless attempt to escape when an arrow sailed through the air and impaled itself in the Drakons only remaining eye.

Down the mountain Chiron lowered his bow and gave a silent fist pump at the shot. His aim had improved drastically since traveling with the siblings and he finally had a chance to show it off. Although he quickly realized what was happening and hoofed it as fast as he could out of the blast zone. Being caught in the spell wasn't part of the plan and he didn't fancy the idea of falling under its effects.

Back at the top of the mountain Adamos reaffirmed his grip on the beast and started to strangle it. Its struggling getting stronger by the second as the pain that it was in drove it further to survive. "HECATE! Do it no—" The godling was cut off as a loud clap sounded out and the ground lit up like the sun.

Up above the battle Hecate was chanting at such speeds that the human mind couldn't keep up. Magic circles floated around her, each one connecting and disconnecting to each other, forming a bubble around her. Her eyes glowed with power. The entire thing was entrancing to watch as she worked. She suddenly went silent as her gaze focused on Adamos who was wrestling with the Drakon. She held her hands out to her sides and the bubble of spell craft shrank as she brought them together in a loud clap that seemed to drown out all other sound.

The wards that had been planted all lit up like stars as lines connected between them to form a massive magic circle. Hecate watched as her and her brothers spell worked its wondrous magic. She knew her brother wouldn't be effected by the magic, years of working with it had left both siblings deeply ingrained with the power and as such highly resistant to all but the most powerful of spells. That along with the counter measures they both took would little doubt of his survival. She watched as the Drakon slowly ceased its struggles and stiffened. It tried to let out one more defiant roar, but it ultimately came out as a garbled sound. Its golden scales lost its color and slowly became a stony grey. Its eyes dulled and cracks began to form along its body. The process wasn't long, merely half a minute before it all died away, leaving what was once a fearsome beast whose mere existence poisoned the lands as nothing more than a stone statue.

Hecate floated down to her brother who was laying with his back to the ground. His breathing was labored, and his body shined with sweat. There was some ichor in his clothes and on his body, but otherwise he was fine.

Both of them silently eyed the petrified Drakon, as if it were going to come alive at any moment. After a few moments Adamos decided to break it. "Well that was a thing."

Hecate hummed in agreement. "When I was asked to help you, I honestly didn't think it would involve this."

"Do you regret it?"

"No," She spoke with no hesitation. "I don't regret my choices not even once."

Adamos let a smile cross his face. They had always been competitive with each other, but they always had each other's backs. Even if they couldn't always be there they would still try, and Adamos knew he wouldn't trade it for anything.

The siblings fell into comfortable silence once more until the sound of trotting hooves grew in the distance. "Better get up, we're supposed to report that we succeeded…right?" She asked seeing as she was still new to all of this.

"They'll know." Adamos simply replied, easing any worries of having to travel to find the primordials. "I have no doubt that they'll find us. All we can do now is head back home." The two walked off only for Adamos to stop and pick something up. Hecate watched with a curious look when Adamos stood up and revealed that he had Some of the Drakons lost teeth in his hands. Each one was as long as his sword and just as sharp. Adamos handed one to his sister, a spoil of war, one fought for and earned by them.

* * *

The screen blacked out. I wiped my eyes to get the fatigue out. "So, what did you think?" Adamos asked.

"It was… definitely a thing." I replied honestly. "You think I'll have to deal with anything of that size?"

Adamos rubbed his chin with his hand. "It shouldn't be likely, but you never know." Adamos shrugged. "But anything that's bigger or as dangerous as that officially becomes a godly problem."

I couldn't help but smile at the thought of a cardboard cutout of Zeus quoting 'You must be this tall to be worth our attention' to any monster that came along. "So, there's a height requirement?"

Adamos lets out a laugh. "Yeah I guess you could say that. So, you happy with what you got?"

"Surprisingly? Yes." I was genuinely honest with it. Seeing what the gods were like before everything was mostly different and now having some form of reference for any future quests was always helpful. "I think the most important thing I learned would have to be to not let you cook. At all."

"Ha ha." Adamos laughed dryly. "You know I'm actually really good at baking." I raised a brow at him in disbelief. "No, it's true, swear to me. I'll admit my cooking is kinda crap, but my baking skills are top notch."

I don't respond and just decide to let him have this. I get up and stretch, feeling my bones pop back into place was a welcoming feeling. That along with the walk down to the first floor stretched out any stiff muscles.

"Don't be afraid to come back again. We can probably do something that brothers do." He said with a shrug. I knew that he didn't really have much of a relationship with our mutual brother Triton, so this must be new to him.

"Sure. That sounds great." I said with a smile. "Oh, before I go. I have a few questions."

"Shoot."

"What ever happened after the quests?" I asked.

"After that the war basically started. I brought Hecate and Chiron over to our side and things escalated from there. Then around that time my daughters were born." Adamos spoke with a genuine smile. "I didn't want them getting caught so I asked Aphrodite to take them far away once it became to dangerous, just for safety. Aphrodite took them and they went into hiding in Mesopotamia. Changed their names and everything, although Tiamat might have messed up and gave her real name, though Aph went under the name Ishtar and Eris went by Ereshkigal." He shook his head in exasperation. "At that point the mortals there created an entire mythos around the three of them and made a fake pantheon. I mean it worked to hide them, but it came with quite a few headaches later on."

"Ok, that sorta makes sense. But one more question?" I asked and Adamos nodded. When I was looking around the house, why was it that only one door was locked?" I asked as my eyes drifted to the single door that I wasn't able to get into in the entire place. I was so focused that I almost missed the way that Adamos straightened and the barely noticeable glaze over his eyes. It was the kind of look that you knew on everything at once, everything present and past. He opened his mouth but the voice that came out was monotonous at best. "There's absolutely nothing there."

I felt a shiver going up my spine at the tone. It was a blank tone, but with strained hearing I could tell that there was a myriad of things underlying the statement, but for once I didn't want to push my luck. "Right… So, um ho do I get ba—"

I jolt awake quickly. Too quickly as I fall out of the chair that I had fallen asleep in.

Groaning as I picked myself up off the ground I looked out of the window of my cabin. To see that the sun was mostly over horizon. I let out a quiet sigh and cracked the joints in my neck. I had thoroughly enjoyed my time and I still had a few questions but those could be put on the back burner as there was something far more important that I needed to do.

Right now, I had to prepare to see my mom again.

**A/N: Hey everybody. I'm not dead and neither is this fanfic. This chapter in particular I just didn't really feel pleased with what I was writing. I had rewritten this chapter three times before coming up with something that I was at least okay with. Add in some tweaks here and there and I was satisfied. Another excuse was that I was actually moving out of my apartment and to back home so I didn't really have much access to my computer as I was busy with the moving process and selling my furniture. Any ways I hope that everyone is still doing well during the quarantine. You all deserve a cookie for your patience you sexy beasts.**

**Momentei, Over and out**


	26. Chapter 25: There's More Out There

**Ok so a made a slight change to the story and changed the reward time from thanksgiving break to winter. Thanksgiving was just to odd a time when I read it over.**

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 25**

**There's More Out There**

You'd think that after finishing a quest across the country I'd be entitled to a bit of normal in my life. Sadly, that was never going to happen.

That new school that my mom managed to get me into turned out to be Meriwether College Prep. A new 'Progressive' school where the teachers are free to dress casually, the classes are in beanbag chairs, and there are no real grades. I actually wonder if most of the faculty even have any form of credentials.

Personally, I thought that this was my chance to stick around for more than a single school year and just snooze my way through classes.

Adamos was having none of that.

The first week of classes passed by pretty uneventfully, which in itself is actually surprising since we were barely given any work, school or home wise. The closest thing I've had to an assignment was to read a few chapters from a book of our choosing and explain why we liked one of the characters.

Some of the other students chose children's books like the cat in the hat. Adamos made me read of Mice and Men.

My brother's complete disdain for this school reached its peak after the second day and had taken it upon himself to be my personal teacher while my body was set to autopilot. I'm not even sure how it works, but so far, I haven't been called out for it.

* * *

**Flashback**

* * *

"Now Percy." Adamos stood in front of a white board. "Due to the utter failure that is the American public education system, or in this case private," He muttered that second part. "I will be taking the role as your mentor and personal hero a step further."

"But you're not my he—"

"AS SUCH," He cut me off. "we will be going over everything you need to know for a proper high school education."

"Why can't I just learn from the school. They have to be good. My mom said they were well reviewed by a bunch of outside sources for their 'unorthodox' teaching methods."

Adamos raised a brow at me. "Good point." He said and for a moment I felt a bit smug.

Oh, how my hubris was so easily destroyed.

"Counter point. I don't care. I'm your teacher now. So, let's get started." Adamos moves in front of the white board and flares his shirt. A white lab coat phases into existence on his person in a flourish before he presses upwards on the bridge of his nose. Now causing a pair of glasses he obviously would never have actually needed to appear. "Now let's talk about our friend the atom."

* * *

**Flashback End**

* * *

The worst part about it was the fact that I couldn't get away with going unnoticed in the class since I'm the sole student.

The only other notable thing was that I met a cyclops named Tyson at school. Originally, I thought he was just another kid going to school until Adamos actually made me look him in the eye.

His singular eye.

Turns out the giant of a child that I've been hanging out with at lunch and defending from bullies was actually a cyclops.

I almost tried to stab him from behind, but I just couldn't. Throughout my entire time at Meriwether Prep he had been my only real friend. Of course, I had to defend him from the bullies at school so that he didn't accidentally kill a kid in retaliation. Also, my mom didn't seem to worry about him and actually seemed okay in his company when I brought him home once.

Currently I was walking around Manhattan. I told my mom that I had to run an errand for Hestia which surprisingly gave me a free to go card so long as I Iris message her every now and then. I actually expected a bit of resistance, but I guess Hestia has enough of a rep as the nice goddess that it was okay.

"What do you think would make a good gift for mom for Christmas?" I said as I looked at the map.

"**Why? Are you hoping to get something out this for her?"**

"Maybe?" I said unsurely. "I mean this is your stuff that I'm retrieving. Is there anything that I could give her from there?"

"**Doubt anything I have is 'Christmas present' worthy."**

"Who knows maybe I'll get lu—"

SQUISH!

I freeze as I step on something. A heavy crunch followed by a thick squishing noise comes from under my shoe. Hesitantly I lift up my foot to get a good look at what gross thing I just stepped in.

The last thing I was expecting however was a scorpion. "What's a scorpion doing in New York?" I mutter.

"**Unless the zoo had an escape it shouldn't be here."** Adamos spoke with interest. **"It seems like something we should investigate. It could be fun."** He spoke giddily.

"It's just a scorpion. There's no reason to go looking…for…more?" I trailed off as a large mass of scorpions crawled down the street. No one else seemed to notice or panic which meant that it must be divine or at least supernatural in nature. I let out a sigh. "Great. Now I'm interested in what's happening."

I followed the seemingly endless mass of scorpions through the streets. At first it seemed to be an uncoordinated movement, but I tossed that idea out when I saw that they were making headway west at a dedicated pace. They didn't even retaliate when I stepped on them.

I walked as fast as I could, trying to get ahead of the horde that was apparently all gathering in Central Park. I ducked through the trees, keeping out of sight as best as I could as I came upon the source of the scorpions.

At the center of a large gathering was a woman in brown robes. Her arms and neck adorned with golden jewels. Her hair was long black hair and the crown on her head made her look like an Egyptian queen. Her skin was a ghastly white with beady black eyes.

"**Serqet."** Adamos said.

"_Who's that?"_ I ask switching over to mental conversation so as not to be heard.

"**She's the Egyptian goddess of scorpions, snakes, and venom." **Adamos explained.

"_Jeez is she also the goddess of food poison too. You know, just to round out the poison." _

"**Percy look. The obelisk." **Adamos pointed out, ignoring my jest. My focus shifted to the trio standing in front of the massive structure. They were looking at the horde with different expressions.

There was a girl with partially dyed blonde hair smirking at the mass, while an African American boy stood there with a khopesh in his hands. Both of them were wearing what looked like linen pajamas, the only difference was the combat boots the girl was wearing.

The third of the group was vastly different than the two kids. She was a short woman in a cat print leotard. Her amber eyes seemed to glow like lamps against her dark complexion. Her expression however was one of extreme worry, meaning that she knew more than the other two of who the scorpion goddess was.

"_Do you have any idea what's going on here?" _I asked.

"**Something we may need to intervene in. They are practically on Olympus's doorstep and Zeus won't take too kindly to invasive fighting so close to his kingdom. Even if he can't do anything to them it might cause some problems on our end. Besides, I know the chick in the cat print."**

"_It hasn't even been a year yet and I'm already fighting another god." _I sigh.I stand and step out of the bushes. I'm not even noticed at the moment which is good. Suddenly I get an idea and a grin spreads across my face. This was the perfect chance to make an entrance as well as try something else out that I've been testing.

A magic circle starts to form in my mind. The symbol of a triangle with a partially open side appears in my mind, next I surround it with the symbol of fire that I remember Adamos demonstrating.

The spell forms in my hand as I rush towards the obelisk. "IGNIS AARD!" I shout the spell and instead of a force push or a simple fire ball, out comes an explosive blast of fire. I feel a strain in my gut, the cost of forcing the two spells together so haphazardly taking more of a toll on me than I thought. The outcome however was exactly as I wanted it, which made me feel proud.

The large mass of scorpions in front of the three is ignited and forced away, causing even more fire. The scorpion goddess hisses as apart of her scorpion army burns away. The three behind me look with confusion as I stand tall and proud of my accomplishment.

"Who the hell are you?" I turn around to find the African American kid looking at me in shock.

I gave him a confident smile. "Percy Jackson. Hero and sorcerer in training." I say as I stand a bit straighter. I don't know if it was that my experiment succeeded, or that I'm actually being a hero without something forcing me to help, but I felt good.

"You should not be here!" The cat lady hissed at me. Her glare made be flinch a little as I saw the power behind her eyes. This woman was definitely a goddess.

"_**Actually, we have every right to be here Bast."**_ Adamos speaks through me, his voice playful. However, Adamos's voice was bleeding through my own, making both goddesses freeze. He then turns the bracelet on my arm into his spear and taps the ground three times. A large magic circle forms, covering the whole area before fading. The two kids seemed to watch in awe as the two goddesses have a look of recognition.

Their expressions then swap as their eyes settle on the Spear of Ruin. Bast now having a look of confidence while Serqet has a look of wariness. "You cannot be here. You can't interfere!" The scorpion goddess yelled.

"Actually, we can. Your rampaging through my home." I level the spear. Adamos bringing it out must have been his permission for me to use it. I feel a slight pull in my gut as the spear ignites in white flames. Drawing out its power becoming easier with practice, even if I don't have its full capabilities. "And we New Yorkers can be very territorial."

"We will have much to discuss after this." Bast says next to me as she begins to glow before she begins to grow bigger and bigger. My eyes widen as the next thing I know I'm standing next to a twenty-foot hologram cat headed person.

"Can we do that?" I ask as I gape at Bast's new form.

"**Possibly. This Possession stuff originally came from the Egyptians but even I'm not sure how it would work with someone outside their Pantheon."** Adamos spoke but there was a slightly frustrated tone in his voice. It must really irk him too not fully know something.

"Questions for later than." I said. Secretly I was really hoping to become a giant person. Then I can look down on all of those older kids who call me shorty when I'm obviously THE AVERAGE HEIGHT FOR MY AGE!

I shake the thoughts away and swing the spear in a wide arc, the spear leaving a large crescent of flames burned into the ground in front of me and igniting the scorpions.

Bast charges forward in her new holographic form, using her massive limbs to punch and kick the horde. Her strikes leaving massive craters and grooves in the ground.

Steadily I swung the spear in large arcs. The flames burning away at all the scorpions as I moved through the writhing mass. I felt another pull in my gut as I swung the spear upwards. A spike of earth rushed forward crushing the scorpions in its way.

Between the two of us we made short work of the encroaching horde. "That was much easier than I thought." I said as I stood in a burning circle of bug carcasses. Sweat was staining my clothes as I took deep breathes. Bast on the other and seemed to be physically much better than me.

"Something as powerful as that spear would surely make short work of anything at this level." The hologram form of Bast spoke, even though her mouth didn't move.

I turned to the lone scorpion goddess. I could hear the clicks and hisses as her mouth opened and I saw a brief view of mandibles in her mouth. A weird shiver went down my body. "Serqet," Bast spoke in a commanding tone. "I suggest that you release your host."

"I refuse!" The scorpion goddess shrieked. Her pale white face shifting into a snarl. "Your days are passed. The House is weak. Lord Set will destroy this land." She hissed at the two of us.

"_**The only way to defeat an Egyptian god is to sever the connection to its host."**_ Adamos spoke through me.

"▅▅■■■■▅▅▂▂ Adamos spoke in the magic language that I still couldn't understand due to his speed. Magic portals appeared around Serqet, and silver and gold chains shot out like a snake and wrapped around the goddess. It took me a brief moment to realize that these were the same chains he used against the Drakon. _**"Bast."**_

The cat goddess nodded as she reverted back to her normal human form. "You will either will fully relinquish your host or," Bast materialized a knife in her hand. "we can force you to."

Serqet scowled and hissed at the two of us, but she kept eyeing the spear. She muttered a silent curse before a black haze began to leave her body. Slowly she began to shrink down, her features returning to a normal color.

Soon all that remained in those golden chains was an unconscious woman who dropped to the ground as the chains retracted. I let out a sigh of relief when I looked her over, finding that she was just unconscious and fine. I turned to the goddess. "You good?" I asked. It was a kinda stupid question to ask an immortal but with the way she looked I felt the need to ask.

Bast looked incredibly tired. The act of using that hologram form seemed to take more out of her than it should have. "I will be fine. But I believe that there are more important questions. Like who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Percy Jackson." I said as I bowed slightly. I didn't know much about Egyptian gods other than the names of a few so I just copied what I did to the Greeks. "Son of Poseidon. My brother said he knows you." I said and she gave me a look. The fact that Adamos didn't stop me from mentioning him meant that it was okay.

"Your brother—

"ADAMOS!" A shout occurred and I felt my consciousness shoved out of the driver's seat. Adamos dropped his spear and it vanished before reappearing on my wrist and in one swift moment drew Riptide. Not a moment later a golden blur is swung in a downward chop at me. Due to Adamos's godly reflexes he blocked the blur with Riptide. Bast moves out of the way with the grace of a cat and lands a bit away.

"Carter!" The blonde girl calls out as she runs over. I get a good look at the assailant only to realize that it's the African American boy—now named Carter—had a furious look on his face, his eyes however looked different from before. They were now silver and gold colored irises. Despite the intense glare however I didn't feel any murderous intent. Loathing and anger yes, but none so that I felt I would fear for my life.

"Give it back you bastard!" Carter roared.

I felt Adamos give an impish smirk. _**"Horus. You haven't changed since I last saw you…how sad." **_The now recognized Horus roars as his strength increases forcing Adamos to bend his knees.

The Egyptian god hooks his khopesh around Riptide and using leverage swings the two blades to the side. The force pulls Adamos forward, close enough for Horus to shift to release one hand and swing it in an attempt to back hand Adamos.

Adamos quickly let's go of Riptide to lean back, letting the blow narrowly pass by. It spoke of his experience and skill that he didn't even hesitate to step into his Horus's guard. His hands deftly grip onto the opposing god and in one swift movement Horus is flung over Adamos's shoulder in a throw.

The Egyptian god in an impressive display of reflexes immediately righted himself mid throw and landed in a three point crouch.

"HORUS!" The blonde girl yells out. Adamos glances at her and she looks different. Not in the physical sense, but rather in the way she carried herself. She seemed to stand straighter and she had a more reserved look that somehow didn't detract from the seriousness of her face.

"Don't stop me!" Carter, I mean Horus, called out not taking his eyes off of Adamos. The two of them charged forth with nothing but their fists.

Horus threw out multiple punches that Adamos either deflected with his palms of dodged. One however seemed overextended and the Greek god capitalized by grabbing Horus by the wrist and leading him into a powerful elbow to the solar plexus.

It didn't connect as at the last moment Horus used his hand to intercept, but this left him open to a palm uppercut to the chin. The force strong enough to knock him back but not enough to stun him as he landed a shallow straight kick straight into Adamos's chest.

Internally I slightly wince at the force. He didn't have momentum or leverage, but the kick still managed to hurt. I felt magic flood my eyes and soon I was looking at a Carter that seemed to exude magical energy, most of it centered around his fists and feet.

I felt Adamos smirk as he lunged forth with three lightning fast kicks to Horus's knee, stomach, and head, effectively putting the Egyptian god on the back foot. He didn't give Horus any room to breathe as he followed up with multiple punches, that only barely managed to block. Their feet were constantly moving, attempting to trip each other while maintaining their balance. I watched as the two fought with precision and skill, honed through centuries of combat experience. A smile was adorning Carter's possessed face and I had no doubt that Adamos was doing the same. Both most likely having forgotten the reason for the fight.

The two of them switched between combat styles on the fly. Going from kick boxing, to grapples, and even martial arts from those kung fu movies.

An opening appeared in Horus's defense, which Adamos brought his fist down like hammer on Horus's shoulder, only for it to be revealed as a feint. His arm wraps around Adamos's as his leg hooks behind his knee. The Egyptian god uses his weight to pull Adamos down with him before throwing him over.

Adamos lands on his back before rolling over along with Horus. The two jumps forth, each landing a savage punch to the others jaw.

The two gods in mortal bodies stand there, frozen in space before the two unceremoniously fall to the ground.

"_**I won!"**_ Adamos laughs out as he picks my body out of the dirt, spitting the dust out.

"Bull shit!" Horus grounds out as he picks himself up. "You fell first."

"_**Na ah!" **_

"Yuh hah." The two of them argued like children as I noticed the other two watching. That blonde girl seemed to be face palming as Bast watched with amusement. Both seemingly used to this.

"_**Hey Isis! Who won?"**_ Adamos asked, and the blonde seemed to snap out of whatever she was thinking.

"Neither of you won." The blonde, now named Isis, said with exasperation. "Again. 385 duels and 384 draws."

Adamos and Horus turned and looked at each other. _**"With the only win going to me."**_ Adamos smirked.

"Like hell—wait no, don't you try to get out of this. I'm still pissed at you." Horus yelled, seemingly remembering the reason he attacked in the first place.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" I snapped out loud.

"Who's the boy?" Horus asked, somehow just now figuring out that Adamos and I look different, yet completely ignoring me.

"_**You have your host, I have mine." **_He shrugged. Horus just nodded in understanding. _**Although I might not have helped if I knew you were here."**_

"You can't avoid this forever." Horus glared at Adamos.

"_**I can try." **_Adamos retorted with a cheeky smile, which earned him a fist full of dirt to the face.

I forcefully shove Adamos from the control as best I can, only earning me the ability to speak once more. I could feel the surprise from my resident god, and I was kinda surprised my self for being able to accomplish it. "Seriously. What is going on?"

"This ass," Horus pointedly looked at me, but I knew he was talking about Adamos. "drugged me and stole my throne and he won't return it."

My mouth opened just a bit and I let out a sigh as my palm reached my face. "Gods dammit. Please don't tell me he's the king of Egypt?"

"If it worked that way, he would be pharaoh." Bast pointed out. "But no. He literally took the throne. Don't know how he snuck it past everyone but all he left was a tablet saying thanks for the throne."

"That does sound like something he would do." I shake my head in exasperation.

"_**Woah woah woah!"**_ Adamos shoved me from control. _**"Why is everyone bashing me?" **_Adamos looked affronted at the accusations. He turned to Horus with a pointed finger. _**"And I didn't drug you. We were both drunk and you accepted a bet and lost."**_

"A bet that I don't even remember!"

"_**That sounds like your problem."**_

"Boys!" Isis shouted, stopping the two gods from fighting. "As entertaining as this is, we have more important things, such as stopping Set."

"_**Oh right, Serqet did say something about him." **_Adamos scratched his cheek with a thoughtful expression. _**"You need any help dealing with him. I wouldn't mind tossing him around a few times with you."**_

"As good as that sounds, this is purely an Egyptian problem." Horus denies Adamos's offer, but the god doesn't take any offense at the rejection. "If it gets too out of hand or bleeds over to other pantheons we'll ask."

"Either way we need to send Carter and Sadie to the first Nome." Bast cuts in. "There's a magician in the museum that can take them but she's not the friendliest individual. But she is their best bet." Bast looked at the museum. "The only problem is that she despises the gods so I can't go with them, and I doubt we will be able to convince her."

"What if we don't have to convince her." Isis suggests. "What if we force her to take them."

"_**It could work. This bounded field not only diverts attention away, but I guess I can configure it to alter perceptions. Might have to erase some memories."**_ Adamos mutters.

"As much as I dislike it, we must leave our hosts in the hands of the magicians." Horus grumbles.

With the plans now hashed out between the gods, they set forth to accomplish their goal. With a bit of mist application from Isis and Adamos the entire museum had their memories altered along with the female magician. She wasn't too hard to find since she was dressed similar to Carter and the blonde, who I now know is Sadie.

Bast surprised the hell out of me when she turned into a cat and hopped on my shoulders. The two of us watched as Carter and Sadie both groggily got to their feet and stumbled into the museum in fright. A magic stone totem following after them.

"They look like crap." I mumbled.

"A god forcefully taking control without consent is very strenuous on the body." Bast's voice came from the cat around my shoulders. "It's not recommended."

"Really? It's never hurt for me." I whispered as I followed after them from a bit farther back. Carter and Sadie had just meet with the magician and were running from the totem. The illusion on Adamos's magical object fully working and physically interacting with the world around it.

"That's because you're a demigod. While they, are mortal, or rather so far removed from their divine lineage that there isn't much difference between them and a mortal." Bast explained.

"Makes sense I guess." I watched as the magician girl used some kind of boomerang to fight the totem as well as some ribbons. She kept speaking about how the ribbons were going to burn the fake Serqet's essence. Judging by the restrained laughter from the god and goddess they knew something.

"**The ribbons of Hathor definitely hurt but they are hardly able to burn a god's essence for eternity." **Adamos explained in choked laughter.

"Any god caught in those ribbons won't get anything more than a severe sunburn." Bast said with amusement.

I just rolled my eyes as the three of them jumped through the portal that they set up. I stepped out from where I was hiding in the shadows and Bast jumped down from my shoulders. "This is where we part ways, I guess. It was good seeing you again Adamos. And it was a pleasure meeting you Percy."

"Uh, yeah. It was a pleasure meeting you too." I said as I scratched the back of my head as I watched the goddess walk away.

"So, what do we do now." I ask.

"**I say we take advantage of what they left us and use that portal." **

"Didn't that girl say it could only be used during certain times of the day? And that it leads to one of those Nomes?"

"**Only because those mortal magicians have no concept or skill to reach beyond the boundaries they set." **I could feel him shake his head in amusement. **"Mortals are such amusing little things."**

"You know I can hear you."

"**Your different. Demigods are different. Your kind are willing to learn and expand." **

"Whatever you say." I say as I shake my head in exasperation. I walk over to the temple to examine its structure. Egyptian hieroglyphs stretched across the walls and up the pillars. A massive wall between the two pillars was the only barren piece.

With Adamos's instructions I traced a magic circle on the barren slab as well as put totems in the cardinal directions. All that was left was a little bit of magic put into it and the portal opened. This portal was different, however. The portal used by Carter and Sadie seemed to be a swirling vortex of sand. This one however seemed to be more like a calm lake. Slight ripples appeared on the surface of the blue gate.

"Damn that's cool." I said as I marveled at my work. "I guess down the rabbit hole I go."

**A/N: This chapter is just a filler on that leads into the filler arc between books. I still need to figure out an ending that I like but I believe that I have enough time.**

**Anyways some of you have spoken about an Adamos central fic during the Titanomachy. I might make one of just random adventures. Maybe not during the Titanomachy but maybe during his journey through the different pantheons. **

**Who knows?**

**Some asked about Hecate's children. They are around and Adamos knows they are around but he's prioritizing Percy over time interacting with them. As far as Adamos is concerned, Percy is still behind others in terms of training.**

**As for Athena's kids. His treatment of Annabeth is not to spread to all of them. I believe that Adamos and Athena have an agreement not to favor each other's children. If they both have demigod children at the same time, they would extend a bit more care towards each other's children for each other's sake, but they will still be like other god's and goddesses' children. It would be like Athena's relationship with a child of Demeter or Hephaestus, the only difference is the nicer demeanor. **

**Anyways I'll try to work more on Demigod of the Deep since the reception has been so great.**

**Momentei, Over and out**


	27. Chapter 26: Uncharted: Percy's Fortune

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 26**

**Uncharted: Percy's Fortune**

"AAAGGHHHHH—OHFF!" I groan as I lay face first on the ground. The taste of dirt fills my mouth as I spit out the dust, snow, and grass. "Any reason why I was transported fifteen feet IN THE FUCKING AIR!?" I snapped.

"**You missed a few ticks and dashes on the y axis portion."**

"And you didn't think to mention this because…?

"**I can't give you all the answers. Otherwise you'll never learn."**

I felt my irritation rise and I had to resist the urge to start shouting. "You have a very shitty timing for these lessons." I ground out as I picked myself up and dusted myself off. I just felt him shrug at my complaint and I decided to drop it all together. He has done this learning thing enough now that I shouldn't be too surprised.

I reached into my pocket and unfolded the map. The ink shifted on the page zooming in and showing me a smaller scale version of the map. Rather than showing most of the northern east coast, the map was now showing an island at the tip of a peninsula.

I turned around to get a good look at where I was and saw behind me was the vast ocean with three smaller islands in the distance. Below me was a stony cliff face that sloped down to a beach. "I guess I must be closer to the center of the island." I muttered as I switched between my surroundings and the map.

"What to do, what to do…" I muttered. A small X blinked on the map like a signal. I felt my senses pointing north, meaning that the mark was to the west. "According to the map it's across the sound."

I turned west. "I guess it's near that mountain…Adamos? Hey Adamos?" I called out.

"**The number you have dialed is currently out of service. If you have any grievances; Press 1, if you would like the Spanish version; Press 2, if—" **I ignore the rest of the stupid polite automated message. I knew that he was still there. I could feel that he was still there, but for whatever reason he was staying silent. It was…weird, but not totally uncommon. Sometimes he just goes silent for whatever reason and starts up a while later, but it was usually during down time or something and this seemed like something pretty important.

I shrug my shoulders. I mean if he was going to not take part than that was his problem. This quest seemed simple enough.

* * *

**X**

* * *

Me and my giant fucking mouth!

I hid behind some rocks near the surf, half my body submerged underwater while the top half was pressed against the rocks as far as I can. I willed whatever shadows to try to conceal me as best as possible.

The reason for why I was hiding?

"I told you I sssmelled ssssomeething good." A raspy female voice echoed through from the forest above me.

"I guesssss you were right. If it's a demigod than you can have firssssst choice." A second voice hissed.

"Yessssss." The first one hissed in what I assumed was an excited tone. "Letssss tell the othersssss. I don't want them trying to ssssteal whatssss mine." I felt my heart beating in my chest as I listened to them move away from where I was hiding. I let out a breath that I was holding.

The reason I was hiding was that there was a platoon of Dracanae searching the area along with something else they brought. I found this out when I nearly stumbled into a group of ten of them when they were apparently on patrol, but I wasn't as good at hiding myself as I thought I was since one of them was able to discover my tracks through the woods.

What happened next could only be described as thirty minutes of hide and seek. With the snake women following the misleading trails that I made when I was wandering through the forest.

I managed to overhear their conversations, which mostly revolved around their dislike for demigods and apparently this 'giant oaf' that they are being forced to work with. I had no idea what this 'giant' thing was but if the sound of distant crashes was anything than it wasn't something I wanted to meet, especially since I was still on my own.

I pulled the map out of my pocket and looked it over. The mark was blinking even faster than before, meaning that I'm getting much closer to the treasure. The mark was sitting between the mountain in the middle of the west side of the park and a long stretch of water.

I slowly move myself out of my hiding spot and take a quick look around. Nothing seems to be there so I take a chance and rush straight back into the forest as quietly as I could.

The sound of the brush rustling forces me to take a dive as two dracanae slither out from the foliage.

"The ssscent isss sssstronger than before?" One of them hissed.

"The demigod might be closssse. They can only run for ssssso long before we catch them."

"_Them?"_ I frown at what they just said. If they are speaking in the plural than that means that there's someone else here. I couldn't just let them die out here. The treasure could wait. It wasn't going anywhere, but these snake ladies were.

I burst from my spot in the bushes and uncap Riptide. The bronze blade shining in the sun as I swung it in an arc, bisecting the closest dracanae by the waist. She didn't even realize that she had died as she turned to golden dust. Her compatriot however jumped and reached for the sword on her waist, but she wasn't quick enough as I thrusted my hand towards her face, just shy of contact. A smirk slightly spread on her face, but it was quickly blown away as a single word escaped my lips.

"Aard."

A blast of concussive force slams straight into her unprotected head and I hear the sickening crunch of her nose being smashed. I had to suppress the urge to wince as her head slams into a tree and she crumbles to the ground.

I let out a deep breath and look down at the barely coherent monster woman. When I had read about the dracanae I was a bit curious as to what they how monstrous they looked in person and honestly? I was a bit let down.

Don't get me wrong, she looked like a legit monster but I was kinda expecting more snake than woman. Her upper half was the same as any other woman's, bar the green skin, fangs, tongue and slit eyes…okay maybe she was more monstrous, but I was kinda expecting lots of scales. The bottom half however was not disappointing as she had two massive serpentine tails for legs.

I wonder if there's a species of dracanae with rattles?

"Ugghh."

The low groan breaks me out of my thoughts. I didn't have time to be thinking such things at the moment. There was a demigod to find.

Using my abilities over the earth I concentrate on the spot around her snake legs. There's a sharp pull in my gut that makes me groan. I had never had to do this level of control, but I push past it as I watch her legs sink into the earth almost like she's being submerged in water. I stop once her waist is submerged and wipe the sweat from my brow.

The dracanae blinks wearily, her eyes were hazy and unfocused, obviously supporting a concussion or at least close to one.

"Heyo." I said, drawing her attention. I had to try not to stare to much into the snake like eyes as they were a kinda unnerving to look at.

"Demigod!" She spat and I had to resist the urge to ask if it was actually venomous.

"That's what I am yes."

"Releassssse me at once!" She snarls as she reaches for her sword, only to find that it was no longer at her side, but a few feet behind me. Instead she settles for clawing at the air a couple feet from my position.

I squat down so I'm somewhat eye level with her. "You gonna keep clawing the air or can I start asking questions?" The only response I got was her attempts increasing in ferocity. It was kind of pointless since she couldn't reach me. I mean it would be smart to dry and dig her way out, actually I think that just leaves an opening for me. Wait I need to stop getting off track.

I look back at my captive and see that she's tired herself out. "You done?"

"What… do…you…want?" She rasps, her glare not letting up.

"Answers." I let that sink in until I think she's ready. "What's your name?"

She blinks. She clearly wasn't expecting that question, but then again, I did watch those cop dramas with my mom. So good cop was a very good way of getting answers.

"Why do you care?"

"Just wanted to ask." I said with a shrug at her suspicious look. "Couldn't hurt."

"…SSSSarah."

"alright SSSSarah. I wan—"

"ITSSS NOT SSSSARAH! ITSSS SSSSARAH! Are you making fun of my lisssssp!" She snapped.

"Oh, um. Sorry. My bad." I apologized as I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "I just thought with the whole snake thing and documents on dracanae…"

"Tsk," She clicked her tongue and I swear I heard her mutter 'typical demigod racists' but I didn't say anything. Mostly because now I feel like an ass.

"So 'Sarah'," I put emphasis on her name. "Tell me what you know about this demigod that you all are looking for."

"Why don't you go die in a hole?" She spat and I had to dodge the flying saliva.

My eyes narrowed on my captive. "If that's how your gonna be." I feel a sharp pull in my gut and she slowly get pulled into the earth.

"Eh? What'ssss going on? What are you doing? Oye, let me out!" By this point her stomach is submerged. "This isn't funny! Stop it!" One of her arms was caught. "All right! All right! I'll talk!" She screams as her chest is now halfway underground.

I stop her sinking and resist the urge to wipe the sweat away. After all I can't show weakness in front of an enemy. "So, what are you going to tell me?"

"Just away north of here there's been sightings and scent trails of a female demigod. We've been trying to locate her for the past few days but with no luck!" She belts out.

"Is that all?" I said and I swear she looked ready to piss herself in fear. I mean I can sorta understand why Adamos likes this position of superiority… at least a little bit. The rest of me feels a bit bad for bullying the monster.

"I—I ssstill can't sssleep without my sssstuffed animal collection." Oh yeah, now I totally feel bad. I internally cringe as the snake woman looks like she's about to start crying.

"Well, uh? Thanks?" I say and then get up and walk away.

"Wait! You can't jussst leave me here!"

"I mean… you're still a monster—and this is better than dying right." And like that I took off into the forest, not bothering to pay attention to her cries of help and resignation. After all she's a monster. And it's a hero's job to defeat monsters. So, I didn't do anything bad…right?

"Of all the times I want that asshole's encouragement." I say with a sigh as I move farther away.

* * *

**X**

* * *

One good thing that I've learned about monsters is that they have terrible coordination. Not hand-eye coordination, but rather terrible teamwork coordination.

I was currently sitting up in a tree, watching as groups of dracanae overlap their guarding routes multiple times. I've seen the same group wind up in the same area three times from seemingly different entrances. Its like they were just wandering without rhyme or reason. Entire areas were left un scouted and I was honestly kinda embarrassed for them.

One of the many classes that Adamos had taught me was a course on leadership and strategy. I wasn't the best with the whole strategy portion and I was having a bit of trouble trying to be a confident leader, but I knew basic structure and orders to perform and if Adamos was watching he would have probably failed them on the spot.

I hop down from my perch and creep in between the patrols. Sticking to the shadows and allowing the domain of night to cloak me. It wasn't as effective as a true child of night and might not have all the powers, but it does keep me from being spotted so long as no one looks at me directly too hard.

I make my past the monsters, avoiding their senses until I come across an abandoned cabin. Kinda like the ones at Montauk except it was twice the size. Normally this wouldn't be anything, except that the dracanae were avoiding the place completely.

No. Not avoiding, it was more like they weren't even noticing the place.

I narrow my eyes for a moment, and I swear I saw the cabin flicker between it and a massive rock.

"An illusion?" I whispered as I sneaked my way to the entrance.

Cautiously I open the door and poked my head in. I didn't see anyone and slowly pulled my self in and quietly closed the door. As soon as it shut with a click, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and I instinctively leaned back as a frying pan swung down out of nowhere, nearly braining me.

Shit!" I leapt back as a kitchen knife was flung across the room and imbedded itself into the wall and nearly nicking my ear.

I kick a chair into the air and grab the back rest and holding the legs toward my invisible opponent. "Uhhh, the power of Christ compels you?" I ask and only got another knife thrown my way and hitting my chair shield.

The entire room erupted into flying kitchen appliances and even the table at the center of the room is shoved at me. Whoever is here is clearly panicking and just throwing with reckless abandon.

Finally having enough after another knife nearly hits a rather special area if I hadn't blocked it, I held out my hand.

"Aard." I cast the spell, and everything is pushed in one direction. My assailant included as a rather heavy thud hits the opposite wall before a young girl flickers into existence.

Her eyes widen as she realizes that she is now fully visible. Her breathing turns to hyperventilation as she snags the nearest object to use as a weapon, which happens to be the frying pan she nearly bashed me with and tries to hold it threateningly.

"S-Stay away! I'm armed." She trembles as she looks at me.

I finally get a good look at her. Her black hair was disheveled yet looked naturally wavy. She had familiar narrow cheek bones, and rather luminescent green eyes. I wouldn't call then striking, but mysterious seemed the more appropriate word.

Her dirt grimed skin still looked rather pale and her clothes, which consisted of a purple shirt, black and white stripped leggings, and a black skirt, looked tattered and dirty. All in all, she didn't look much older than nine or ten.

"Woah, woah. I'm not gonna hurt you." I hold my hands in the open, trying to look as least threatening as possible.

"Liar!" She shouted and threw a handful of spoons at me. I didn't even bother dodging and just gave the girls a 'really?' look. I mean come on. Spoons were the least threatening utensil. The girl at least had the decency to look a bit embarrassed if the slight reddening of her cheeks meant anything.

"Look, I'm not a monster. See?" I did once over on myself for emphasis. "My name is Percy. Percy Jackson. What's your name kid?"

The girl eyed me suspiciously as I moved, never once letting me out of sight. "My name is Lou Ellen, and I'm twelve. I'm not a kid."

"Nice to meet you Lou." I had to push away the feeling of embarrassment at mistaking her for a nine year old when she was actually just short.

"No! Not Lou. Lou Ellen is my first name. Blackstone is my last name." Well currently I was now 0-2 in the name department today.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm Percy. Are you hiding in here from the monsters?"

"You can see them?" She asks and for a brief moment her guard lowers before shooting up again. "Do you know what they are? If you do explain."

"All right. Tell me. What do you know about Greek mythology." I asked and she had a slightly confused expression. I had to wonder if I looked similar to her when I was first told all of this. I then spent the next few minutes explaining about the gods and monsters and all of that as best as I could. Lou Ellen seemed to soak up the knowledge like a sponge and asked questions that I tried my best to answer some of the questions and I knew for others it would have been better to have Adamos help me explain things, but he was still silent.

"So, I'm the daughter of a god." She whispered. "Do you happen to know who it is." She said with a hopeful look on her face. I had to suppress a wince as the image of the Hermes cabin flashed into my mind.

"Um, maybe we can narrow it down." I replied though I was already running through demigod traits in my head. "Who's your mortal parent?"

"My dad."

"We can strike Athena off that list." I say as I give her a once over.

"Wait. Isn't she like a maiden goddess?"

I was about to say that she was married but fortunately stop myself. Those few moments when I would hear Adamos pine after the wisdom goddess kinda nailed that matter into my head. "She is but she still has children. They are just born from her mind like how she was born." Lou Ellen opened her mouth. "And yes, they do have belly buttons. I asked." She nodded in acceptance.

"So why isn't she my mother?"

"The Athena kids are all blonde with grey eyes." She gives in 'ahh' of understanding. "Maybe Demeter? You do have green eyes, but I don't think any of them have black hair."

"No. I kill any plants I take care of."

"Aphrodite?"

"Can't stand makeup. Irritates my skin."

"I guess we can strike the Olympians off the list, so that only leaves," I sigh. "An insane amount of major and minor deities. Maybe we should just hold off on this until we get somewhere safer than this monster infested forest."

"You mean like that camp?" Lou Ellen says excitedly. The idea of a safe place must seem like a godsend to her. Pun intended.

"Yeah for now I ne—" Thoom! I was cut off as the sound of something crashing echoes through the forest. And judging by how the ground was shaking it was close. "Quick! Hide!" I ordered as I flipped the tables and chairs into a normal position as fast as I could before joining her inside of a closet in the room.

And not a moment later as the door is broken open by a trio of dracanae that burst into the cabin.

"I smell them." One of them rasped, making her cohorts give venomous smiles. They wasted no time searching through the cabin, opening every cabinet and overturning furniture, leaving nothing to chance.

Lou Ellen and I watched through a crack in the door as the dracanae tore the room apart, but that wasn't what I was looking at in particular. What I was looking at were the massive pair of blue legs that I could see through the door. I could only see a bit above the waist, but that was all I needed to see to know that whatever that thing was it was probably around ten feet tall since doors are generally almost seven feet in height.

"Are. You. Done." Whatever was outside spoke and its voice was like grinding stones.

"Tch. Mind yourself." One of the dracanae snapped. "We're the ones searching. Your just here to sniff out our other objective." The blue person grumbled but didn't say anything else.

"_The other objective? What else could they be here for other than Lou Ellen?"_ I thought.  
_"But if they were only here to hunt a demigod_ _than they wouldn't hire help. Could they be here for the same thing as me?"_

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the floorboards creaking louder as they came closer. It would only be a moment before they were upon us. I uncap Riptide and hold it up, ready to stab the unsuspecting monster in the throat as soon as she opens the door, but a hand rests on my blade.

I look over at Lou Ellen to see her face contorted into intense concentration. Her green eyes seemed to move like a rolling fog.

The door suddenly swings open and the face of a snake woman peer into the closet we were hiding in. I immediately had my sword at the ready but didn't attack.

Why?

Because she wasn't attacking us. Rather she was looking everywhere but us. Her face contorts into a snarl as she slams the door shut and Lou Ellen almost collapses in exhaustion and I have to catch her to avoid making noise.

"No one's here!" The dracanae shouted.

"Impossible. This place reeks of demigod. There's no way they aren't here."

"Well they must have left before we got here."

"Raaagghh!" There was a loud crashing sound as the dracanae screamed. "Let's go. Were already on a timetable as it is. We can no longer be side tracked."

"Awww but I was looking forward to barbeque." One of them spoke dejectedly.

"And I just learned a good recipe from the harpies." Another of them clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Well tough. Now let's go."

The sound of creaking floorboards lessens and after a few moments its nothing but silence, and even then, I wait a few minutes to make sure they were really gone. I cautiously exit the hiding place with Lou Ellen in my arms.

I set up a chair for her to sit in from the newly flipped kitchen furniture. "What did you do?" I asked softly. Not accusing or anything, just pure curiosity.

"I can make… things… invisible." She speaks in deep breathes. "Never had…to do it…for another person. Christ I'm tired."

I reach into one of my jacket pockets and pulled out a baggie with bread squares. Adamos really hammered into me the benefits of having an emergency ambrosia stash for outings, "Here. Eat this." I hand her the bread and she looks at it skeptically before popping it into her mouth. I bit back a chuckle as her face seems to light up in pure bliss as she snacks on the divine food. She immediately begins to look better than she did a moment ago.

"Can I have another one?" She asked with held out hands and a smile. "Please?"

I snort in amusement and hand her another piece. "Just this one. Anymore and you might burn to ashes." Cue choking sound and I had to try not to burst out laughing at the look on her face as I pat her back so she can finally swallow all of it. "It's ambrosia, godly food. Mortals can't eat it or they'll spontaneously combust."

"Would have been nice to know beforehand." Lou Ellen mutters.

"But then you wouldn't have eaten it." I countered. The only response I got was a pout. "How did you do that invisibility thing anyways?"

She shrugged. "I just figured it out one day."

I just left it at that. Demigod powers were not something that needed to much understanding. Some demigods were just able to do things that others couldn't simple as that. "Well for now I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?"

"I was in the middle of a quest of sorts before I found you." I said and I saw her eyes widen in awe. "But I don't know if I can take you with me. Your untrained and you could get hurt."

"Or I can help!" She shot up out of the chair. She was practically shaking in excitement. "I can help you on the quest. Like—like those old RPG's my dad plays. You're the swordsman and I'm, uh…"

"The thief?" I supplied.

"No. I'm the mage." She said with certainty.

"I don't know. It could be dangerous for a nine-year-old."

"I'm not nine! I'm eleven!" Lou Ellen glowered at me and I backed off. So, it turns out that she's just short for her age.

"Ok, ok. If I leave you, are you just gonna follow me anyways?"

"Yes." She says as if it were the most obvious answer. The palm of my hand met my face and I sighed.

"Alright, come on." I waved her over and she followed with a gleam in her eyes. I mean it's not like I could stop her since she could turn invisible and leaving her alone was just an accident waiting to happen.

"By the way I never asked who your godly parent was." Lou Ellen asked as she matched my stride.

"Poseidon." I said simply. I didn't want to make a big deal of it because it wasn't that big of a deal. At least in my eyes it wasn't.

"So that means you must be pretty important if your dads on of the main gods."

"I guess." I said noncommittally.

* * *

**X**

* * *

"I don't see anything." Lou Ellen spoke as she dug through some foliage. The two of them working for around forty minutes to find wherever the entrance to the vault.

"Its gotta be around here somewhere." I called out as I flipped the map in random positions, trying to figure out if I went wrong somewhere or needed to look at some kind of different angle. We were at the base of the mountain where the X was located.

"Are you sure that it's here?"

"Yes. The map doesn't lie, and I know how to read maps."

"Maybe you were just pun—WOAH!"

"Lou?" I call out, not bothering with her full name. It just made calling out her name so awkward.

"I'm ok!" She called out but I couldn't see her.

I walked over to where I heard her. "Lou?" I called out only to fall on my ass when her face came out of the side of the mountain.

"What are you doing sitting on the ground? She asked with fake innocence if that small smirk meant anything.

"What happened?" I asked, pointedly ignoring her question. Her face was the only part of her that was coming out of the rock.

"I leaned against this rock and fell through." She said as she stepped out. I raised my brow at that and looked closer. The thing looked solid and normal. I picked up a stone and threw it at the hidden entrance, and to my surprise the rock hit the entrance and bounced off as if it were a physical object.

"A physical barrier. Maybe it opens up when certain requirements are met?" Lou mumbled as she looked closely with a gleam in her eyes.

"Probably to keep the mortals and other things out." I shrugged but Lou didn't seem to be paying attention to me as she poked and prodded the entrance with fascination as she muttered more theories.

THOOM

THOOM

MY eyes widened as I felt the ground shake. "Over. Here." The stone like voice called and I made an executive decision to grab Lou and bolt straight into the entrance.

"Hey!" Was her cry as I dragged her by her arm. But I didn't answer her and just pulled on my powers of the earth and forced a massive slab of stone to rise and block the entrance. The effort was massive, and I found myself on my knees breathing like I had just run a straight mile.

"Woah." Lou whispered as she looked at what I did. "How did you move it like that? I thought Poseidon was a sea god?"

"Magic." I gasped out and luckily that seemed to satisfy the young girl, unfortunately however it busted down the door for a slew of other questions.

"Enough." I groaned as I pushed her face away.

"Come on. Jush ansher the queshin." She spoke as my hand was currently shoving her face away and smothering her words

"No." I said with a bit more force as I started to feel better.

"Pleash?"

"No." I left it at that and just walked down the hall. The darkness of the hall was made null as my eyes adjusted to the near pitch blackness. "Are you having any trouble seeing Lou?"

"Not really. I can see about…ten feet. And don't call me Lou!" She snapped.

"Tough. Lou Ellen is wat too clunky to say." I said not really caring about the defiant shout she gave. I walked over to the wall to see if there was anything on there until my hand hit an uneven patch on the wall. I frowned at it as the rest of the wall was perfectly smooth. Against every instinct that I had from watching Indiana Jones, I pressed the uneven portion.

Luckily, I wasn't speared or darted through the face and it just turned out to be a light switch. The hall glowed dimly, not enough to allow a normal person to see completely fine, but rather the dim soft glow of purple lights that kinda reminded me of some kinda haunted house scenario. Of course, that was made useless since both me and Lou had varying levels of night vision.

"A mystery tunnel." I could practically hear the excitement in Lou's voice. And I had to admit that this was pretty exciting and mysterious. Say what you wanted about Adamos; he had a natural talent for presentation.

Even if the entrance and the lights were a dead giveaway than the length and such were obviously magical in nature. The hallway inward seemed to go on forever. The map obviously had a distance chart on it, and the national park was a little less than two miles in length, and that's not even considering the bodies of water throughout the park.

I had to roughly guess that they had walked a bout three quarters of a mile in a line and as such they should have hit ocean at some point since the path didn't dip or rise.

"Percy when are we getting there?" Lou whined

Internally I agreed that this was taking far too long and I was about to respond with just that, but as if the entire place followed Adamos's sense of timing and humor, the kind that pushes you to the point of near anger and irritation, we found ourselves at the end of the hallway and at a large set of arching door. Not bigger than the doors in Hades's palace or on Olympus, but pretty big by mortal standards.

"Mystery door. So cool." Lou squealed. I honestly think that she's more excited about this than I am.

We pushed open the surprisingly light doors and found ourselves in a large dome like room with a bunch of limbs, torsos and head on sticks sticking out of the ground, some limbs even held weapons. The walls of the room were decorated in murals of different scenes. Some of heroes fighting beasts, some of farmers tilling the lands, depictions of disasters. On one side of the room was a depiction of a man with his sword swinging down. At the center of the room a single scepter lamp thing stood.

"Huh!" Lou gasped. "Is this a puzzle. It totally looks like a puzzle." Lou began to run around inspecting all of the limbs.

I however just walked over to where the rod with some kind of lamp was standing. The lever was as tall as my chest and seemed to be in the middle of a pedestal. A small brass plate was embedded in the bottom of the pedestal and written in ancient Greek. My brain already shifting and translating the writing.

'The quality of man isn't in their strength or power.

But rather their ability to overcome.

Beasts are nothing more than living testaments of strength.

Nature is a constant test for survival.

But what really pushes humans forward?'

I read the message over and over again in my head. It was some kind of cryptic second-rate puzzle problem that I couldn't figure out for the life of me.

"Hey Percy, check it out. These things move." I looked over to where Lou was and nearly chocked on my own spit as I saw her swinging back and forth on one of the random legs. Her face one of concentration as she swung and then tried with all her might to fling herself to the adjacent arm only to fall short. I immediately rush over to see if she's okay. The fall was pretty high, and I was worried that she hit her head or something.

"Lou! Are you okay?" I looked her over for any broken bones or other injuries.

"I'm fine." She groaned as she sat up. "And I told you not to call me Lou." She said but with no actual bite. "Where there always holes in the ground?"

The statement confused me, and I was wondering if she hit her head in the fall. That was until I saw the numerous holes in the floor. They weren't random holes, rather they were equal distance apart from each other.

I looked at the limbs and the staff. The poles on the limbs seemed to large for the numerous ones on the floor, but the lamp rod…

I walked over to the rod and picked it up. The metal pole easily sliding from the ground with a satisfying sound, like it was a perfect fit.

"You think this'll fit?" I turned to Lou with a raised brow. She merely shrugged. Deciding that I had no better options I walked over to the nearest hole and placed the lamp rod in the hole. Lou stood behind me, half watching me and half reading the riddle. The lamp rod slid easily into the hole until a thunk told me I had hit the bottom.

For a second nothing happened, and I thought I was wrong until all at once the assorted body parts moved in sync.

"Hey Percy! Did you see the riddle?" Lou yelled as she eyed the limbs.

"Yeah. Got any idea of what it means?" I asked as I thought over the riddle. I'll be the first to admit that riddles weren't my strongest point.

"Got a light?"

I raised my brow but complied. "Ignis." I focus and reduce the flame to the tip of my thumb, almost as if I have a lighter. Lou picks up the rod and angles it over my thumb, igniting the lamp. The flame reflects in the lamp and brightens into a large flashlight.

Lou begins to wave the lamp around slowly as she wandered around the room. I watched with a bit of skepticism until something caught my eye. The shadows of the limbs. Some of them lined up. "They make a person." I speak aloud.

Lou must have heard me speaking my thoughts as she turned to me with a grin. "Exactly. These things," She motions to all of the body parts. "Are basically giant shadow puppet."

"Beasts are testaments of strength. Nature a constant survival. What pushes man?" I mutter.

"It's man."

"What?" I look over at Lou who is busy eyeing the body parts.

"The last part of the riddle is man."

"That's…so dumb." I couldn't help but sag in exhaustion. I mean seriously, Man?

Lou shrugs off my comment. "I don't know. The set up is pretty cool." She tries another hole making an incomplete shadow on the wall. "Damn it." She mutters.

My gaze scans the walls of the room. The murals spanning across their surfaces. One however catches my eye. The mural of a single man swinging his sword. "Hey Lou!" ("Don't call me Lou!") "Bring the lamp over here!" The young girl complied, and I walked around a bit before I came to where I wanted. Using the light, I shined it on the limbs until I got what I wanted. A massive shadow of a man standing against the mural. Now completing the image of two warriors clashing.

I drop the rod into the hole and watched as the limbs moved. Now however the figure on the wall moved, stabbing the figure painted on the wall. The sound of grinding stone echoed through the room. On the side opposite to the entrance the stone wall opened up like elevator doors.

"UUUGGGHHH. More walking." I groan. Luckily this walk was a much shorter distance. The bad news?

Stairs.

Lots of stairs.

It takes a full five minutes before the two of us manage to crawl past the top step. Internally I was swearing unholy retribution on Adamos with the same level of rage and hatred that he reserves for satyrs.

"Stairs…The bane…of my…existence." I groan aloud. Lou however was faring much worse since she didn't have the physicality that I've developed nor was she as tall as me.

"Uggggghhhhhh."

"You…okay…Lou?"

"Uggghhh."

"I can't feel my legs either."

Brriing-Brriing! "Welcome, Welcome!" A voice that sounds a lot like Michael Buffer echoed in the room. The two of us tiredly looked around from our prone positions.

At the end of the room was a large slot machine. Its sides were a shiny gold with lights at the edges. At the top was a flashing sign that said, 'HERO'S REWARD!' in big bold white letters on a black background.

"Congratulations hero! You have reached the end." The slot machine announced. "As is accordance with all quests given by the patron of heroes, a reward is deserved!" The red bulb on the lever shines. "Now step right and. COLLECT. YOUR. REWARD!"

The two of us just blink and stare at the flashy machine in front of us. Not really comprehending it. This cave had to have been decades if not centuries. So how in the world is there a pristine looking slot machine in here. "I'm tempted to move it to see if there's an outlet." I whisper.

"I kinda wanna bust it open to see if there's a bin of coins inside."

"Let it be known that any intentional damage done to this machine will result in a VERY painful experience."

Deciding to ignore that warning I walk up to the machine. The flashing lights were kinda blinding but it wasn't anything that I couldn't just ignore.

"Are you really gonna do this?" Lou asks as she gives the machine a distrustful look.

"Come on. Where was that attitude earlier?" I tease and pull the lever. The machine starts tolling out game sounds as the slots begin to roll. Then one by one they begin to stop.

7

7

7

7

"Winner! Winner!" Digital confetti floats across the screen as the it flashes the words LUCKY over and over again. I felt a smile on my face as I watched the flashing lights. A large bin in the base of the machine opens up with a loud Ka-Ching!

Lou and I look at what's in the bin.

Inside is a silver shield with golden trim on the edges. The silver portion was bright and reflective like a mirror but seemed to softly glow, so it resembled a full moon. It was clear enough that Lou and I could see our faces in its surface. It was easily big enough to hide half my body behind it yet was much lighter than one of the similar sized shields at camp.

"Oh, Oh! My turn!" Lou pushes past me almost making me drop my new shield but making me hit a secret button on accident. The shield shrinks in on itself until it takes the form of a silver watch.

The game sounds ring out until there's four distinct dings. I slap my new shield watch onto my wrist and walk over to see that Lou has scored four cherries. The same digital confetti and signs flow across the screen and the bin opens up to a sickle like sword. It wasn't as long as Riptide, being at maybe two feet in length, but the handle was meant for one hand while the blade was curved so that it looked like a sword version of a karambit knife. Its blade glowed in what little light there was much like my shield, however her blade resembled a crescent moon.

"Awe yeah!" Lou squealed with a massive grin on her face as she eyed her new blade. I have to laugh as she starts play swinging the blade around.

"All right try not too hurt yourself—WOAH!" I had to duck as a particularly nasty glowing slash flies from Lou's new blade as she shouts, 'Flying Slash Attack!' and comes close to my general location.

The two of us look with gaping mouths at what just happened. The flying attack didn't really do any damage other than kick up some dust. The part of the floor that it hit didn't even have any scuff marks on it.

"So cool." Lou whispers dumbly, but the empty room makes it echo. I couldn't help but nod at that and internally gush with jealousy. I mean c'mon! It's a flying sword slash! It's so damn cool!

"Hey you wann—"

"Nope."

"But you didn't ev—"

"Nope."

"Whatever." I grumbled as I fiddled with my shield, getting used to switching between the forms before setting it back on watch mode. "Lets just find away out of here." Then as if the universe was listening, we hear a ding and a portion of the wall opens up to an elevator car.

"At least we don't have to walk anymore." Lou shrugged as we stepped inside the elevator and pressed the single button.

X

Lou spun her curved short sword by the small ring on the pommel of the weapon. All it took was a bit of concentration for her to transform it into a ring on her finger and a vice versa. I however was leaning against the wall of the elevator, trying to stay out of her way.

"Have you thought of a name?" I asked. The question getting the young girl to stop twirling her blade and I let out an internal sigh of relief now that my life wasn't in danger of accidental impalement.

"A name for the blade?" I nod at her. Lou adopts a speculative look at the ring on her finger. "What's the name of your sword?"

I pull my own blade out of my pocket and uncap it. "Anaklusmos, or Riptide of you prefer." With a flourish my sword it goes back into pen form.

"How about…" Lou gazes at her ring for a moment. "Moonlight."

"Any particular reason?" I ask. It wasn't because I thought the name was bad, but more out of simple curiosity.

"It just reminds me of the moon." She then breaks out into a massive grin. "And that sword wave was silver like moonlight."

I click my tongue in irritation. She was obviously being cheeky and rubbing it into my face. I mean just a few hours ago she was trying to kill me with kitchen utensils and now she's acting like a cheeky little cousin or sister.

Ding~

The elevator doors open before I could say anything. The first thing that we see however wasn't the forest but rather a system of piping and wiring.

"Never thought I'd see plumbing in a national park?" Lou says as she pokes her head out and looks both ways.

"That's because it doesn't." I say as I look around. My brows furrow as I try to figure out where we are. The only exit I see however is a metal door that says 'authorized access only' while its just a long hallway in the other direction.

I go over and turn the handle on the door, opening it easily. A bright light hits me as we shield our eyes and step through the door and into…Central Park.

I don't really know how but for some reason the elevator transported us from Maine all the way to Central Park. Yeah. Because that completely makes sense.

I turn to Lou who is looking around with wide eyes. She was obviously trying o figure out how we made it to New York, but just couldn't figure it out. "Lou? LOU!?" I say slightly loud, making her snap out of her thoughts. "The elevator was magic. Just except it."

"Fine." She sighs.

"So, you wanna come home with me?" I ask and she gives me weird look. I check my new watch, seeing as telling time is the only other function of my shield, and see that it's close to 7:30 pm. "My mom should be done with dinner. I'm sure mt mom has dinner ready and she wouldn't mind an extra person." The moment I said dinner her face light up like a Christmas tree. She had probably been surviving off of stolen food and whatever she could find. The prospect of a meal and probably a place to sleep, since I know my mom would offer, must be too tempting.

With renewed vigor she grabs my arm and drags me out of the underground utility line and into central park. "Lou." I pull back on my arm and she gives me an impatient look. "My home is that way." I point in the opposite direction. She at least had the good graces to blush at her mistake and let me lead from then on.

* * *

**X**

* * *

I was right when I thought that my mom would welcome Lou to dinner. Rather she seemed overjoyed at the thought. I actually think that she wants a daughter in the future.

She insisted that Lou take full advantage of our amenities and take a shower and sleep in her bed for the night while she sleeps on the couch. At first Lou refused, but then she learned just who my mom was. She was the woman who wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to her hospitality.

I laid in my bed with my eyes closed. Sleep was so close that I so desperately wanted it after a tiring day like today.

"**HEY PERCE WHATCHA DOIN!"** Then this asshole ruins it all and I end up falling out of my bed at the volume.

"Fuck." I groan as I pick myself up. And lay back on my bed. _"Oh, hey Adamos glad your back."_ I mentally say in the most blatantly sarcastic tone as possible.

"**Geez what bit you in the ass?"**

"_Oh, you know just a bunch of dracanae and some kind of blue giant person. Probably would have if it weren't for Lou turning us invisible." _

"**Yeah I saw that. Hecate's kids were always naturally skilled in magic and mist manipulation."**

"_You saw wha—wait? She's a child of Hecate?"_ I forget about berating him and focus on that bit.

"**Yeah. She looks a lot like Hecate when she was younger. With a few minor features being different, but otherwise very similar."** I feel him shrug.

"_Well that's… good to know. But where did you go? You just up and left me!"_

"**This was your quest. I wasn't going to just run it for you." **I hear the tone in his voice, as if what he was stating was the most obvious thing in the world. **"Plus wasn't it more fun doing it yourself."**

I didn't want to admit it, but he was kinda right. I did feel good when I snuck past all the dracanae and when Lou and I solved the puzzle. _"Yeah, but…That doesn't change the fact that you left me hanging."_

"**I was trying to figure something out." **I felt Adamos turn serious. **"That blue giant that you saw. I swear it gives off the same signature as a troll."**

"_And?"_

"**More specifically, it was a Norse troll." **Now Adamos had my full attention. Adamos said that the pantheons don't mix. They stay out of each other's way. And that should include monsters not working together. The only reason we interacted with the Egyptians was because Adamos knew them and even then, our interaction was brief. But this troll seemed to be actively working for the Dracanae. Adamos obviously coming to the same conclusion nodded. **"Even under extraordinary conditions this shouldn't happen. Not unless they are actively trying to work together for a common goal."**

"_You think they could have been looking for your vault?" _

"**It shouldn't be possible. My vaults exist on a constantly moving plane. Even if they found its location it would move without the proper key. In your case it was the map that let you both enter. If anything, the trolls have a keen sense for hidden treasure, and it smelled some of the protection magic nearby."**

Adamos seemed confident in the security of his vaults but I wasn't so sure. They were obviously after Lou, but she seemed to only be a side objective. The monsters were actively looking for something and I think they knew what they were looking for, just not where. _"So, I got the shield. What does it do?" _I ask, changing the topic. Adamos seemed to take great pride in his defenses. I could tell that he was worried about it and would probably want to look into it, but his pride wouldn't let him out right admit that his hidden vaults weren't completely unknown anymore.

"**It's a mirror shield. Its good at absorbing, storing, and expelling damage. Especially kinetic."**

"_Uh, can I get that on a fourth to fifth grade reading level?"_

I hear Adamos sigh. **"You take a hit with the shield and it stores damage done so you hit back harder with the shield."** I just nod in understanding as that makes sense. I mean it looks like a mirror so it should function sorta like one. I guess I'll just have to come up with a new name for it tomorrow.

Right now, though it's a school night and I was dead tired and wanted to sleep. Potential threats on my life can wait till tomorrow.

**A/N: Hey all you sexy beasts. I'm not dead. I'm right here. I've actually been combing through fanfiction to find new stories to read. 'This Bites!' by Xomniac is amazing and though its pretty long the chapters are masterfully done. At some points I was laughing myself to tears. And even a few fates stay stories caught my attention. Anyways I do in fact take suggestions for the story. If it seems good, I might add it or mention it. In fact, I have already been in contact with some reviews that have helped me come up with a few ideas. And to Jason wu, I appreciate your ideas and some of them are actually apart of the future of this story while others can be considered. Also, someone asked if Adamos stole Horus's seat of power. The answer is no. No seat of power was stolen. Rather Adamos snuck into Horus's temple and stole his own personal throne as well as the throne that the pharaoh sit on. He did replace the pharaohs throne with a less comfortable identical replacement. You know because he's a cheeky bastard and it's funny as hell. Also if you can identify the reference for a part of the quest you get a cookie.**

**Anyways stay safe all you sexy beasts and if you have any ideas for the story, I'm at least willing to consider them.**

**Momentei, Over and out.**


	28. Chapter 27: The 5 D's

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 27**

**The 5 D's**

It's now the end of the school year at Meriwether prep. Winter break was spent with my mom insisting that Lou at least stay with us until after Christmas. The girl was quite ecstatic at the idea of a place to stay and she jumped at the offer.

I did end up having to purchase another Christmas present for Lou. A Harry Potter book as a sort of joke since Adamos revealed to me that she was a daughter of Hecate.

Apparently, the children of Athena aren't the only ones that inherit fears and such from their parents because as soon as I gave her the book (written in Greek of course) she gave me a mostly fake smile. It wasn't until later when we were going to bed that I overheard her rummaging through our cabinets looking for matches or a lighter to burn the book as soon as she could.

Maybe there's a genetic component involved.

Anyways, we dropped Lou off at camp and gave our goodbye hugs and the like. My mom said that she was welcome back whenever she need a place to stay. I promised to help her with magic when I came back to camp in the summer.

After that, not much happened. I had a few run ins with monsters around New York but it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle. I did get in trouble for breaking a chair while practicing with a javelin. I now practice on the roof of our building at my mom's suggestion. Also, I didn't want to see what would happen if I broke something else.

As of right now though, I was standing in the school's gymnasium trying to look unassuming as we went through the warmup exercises. I was keeping a look out for this bully named Sloan that seems to have it out for Tyson. He doesn't know it but the six new 'friends' that he surrounded himself with are actually monsters. Some kind of cannibal giants that I can't remember the name of.

They've been relatively tame all day, but I had a feeling that they were going to try something soon. Especially since Sloan had openly decided to target Tyson and me in PE.

"**They're not even being subtle." **Adamos huffed as we could both see the looks the monsters were giving me out of the corner of my eye. **"They are being completely conspicuous."**

"_Aren't they supposed to be, like immortal or something like the gods? They die and reform and all that. It kinda makes you wonder why they aren't smarter." _I wonder as I stretch my legs.

"**My theory is that the left-over golden dust is infused with bits and pieces of their essence. They die and lose a part of themselves and thus forever remain stupid."**

"_Just a theory? __Something you actually don't know?!" _I think in sarcastic shock. _"Oh no, the end times are coming!"_

"**Laugh it up brat," **Adamos gave an annoyed huff. **"Do you know how hard it is to study the death of monsters? And don't even get me started on the waiting times for the subjects to reform." **He rants and I'm a bit nervous as to if he actually attempted to study this. I mean seriously. I'm pretty sure that breaks some kind of law, somewhere.

I continue to watch the monsters out of the corner of my eyes. They flexed their tattooed arms like a bunch of gym nuts. Their beefy bodies and hairy features making them look like adults rather than students.

Oh Mist. You wonderful yet horrible thing.

"_Monsters aside, can we at least talk about—"_

"**No."**

"_But—"_

"**No."**

I sigh at how childish he's being. Recently I had a dream about Grover. I saw my friend fleeing for his life from something. Something big. He kept trying to tell me something, but his words kept cutting off like a call going through a tunnel.

I try to talk to Adamos about it but at the first mention of Grover being in trouble he just brushed it off as not his concern. I told him he was being unreasonable, but he put his foot down that if I wanted to 'waste my time on the mongrel' than I was free to do it without his help.

"All right everyone line up. Its time for dodgeball. Line up." Coach Nunley called out from his chair. The guy was like a million years old and never seemed to move from the chair that he sits in. From the beginning of P.E to the end he doesn't move, and his eyes barely ever leave the Sports Illustrated in his hands.

"Coach can I be captain?" Matt Sloan asked as he sent a dirty look in mine in Tysons direction. Coach Nunley just gave a noncommitted sure before Matt announced that I would be the other Captain.

I didn't even begin to pick anyone as the more popular students and the monsters all took Matts side of the court leaving me hilariously outnumbered as my team now only had seven people other than me as compared to their sixteen members.

"Percy…" Tyson tugged my gym shirt worriedly.

"It'll be okay." I gave him a smile to ease his worries. "We got this."

"Kick their asses Percy!" A female voice seemingly whispered in my ear. I turned and looked around but found nothing. Nothing visible but I could tell that something was off. It was like the air just felt…wrong and out of place. That and the fact that there were no girls on my team.

"**Remember the 5 D's of dodge ball Percy. Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and Dodge."**

"_You said dodge twi—"_

"**DODGE!" **Adamos shouted in my head and before I knew what hit me a dodge ball slammed into my gut, knocking me flat on my ass.

"**You didn't dodge."** He said disappointingly.

"_You randomly…shouting…dodge is more…distracting than helpful."_ I mentally groan as I try to force air back into my lungs.

"Percy duck!" Tyson shouts and I instinctively roll to the side as another dodge ball whizzes past my head like a cannon shot. The force seemingly denting the wall and making the rest of my team scatter in fear of their lives.

Not that I can blame them as I now got a good look at the hidden monster's true forms. Their gym uniforms barely containing their bulging muscles and threating to tear apart at any moment. Their teeth became crooked and yellowed like they had never heard of a dentist. Each of them stood eight feet tall, towering over everyone in the room.

"Percy." Tyson whimpered by my side as I stood up.

Matt Sloan and the other kids dropped the balls they were holding and screamed as they ran to the exit door. Not that it did any good as one of the giants, who was named Joe Bob, snapped his fingers and the doors snapped shut. At the center line appeared a row of bronze colored balls. Each one had holes in them that like a wiffle ball that spewed flames. I just knew taking one of those was going to hurt a lot.

"**Laistrygonaian giants. Cannibal giants with one hell of a throwing it is odd seeing them this far south.  
They normally stay in Canada?"**

"Well this is just great." I say sarcastically. "A game of flaming dodge ball is exactly how I want to end the school year."

"Were playing street rules kiddies." The giant named Joe Bob shouted with sickening glee. "No one leaves until you're out. And if you get out…" His smile widened, showing far too many of his pointy teeth. "We eat you."

I looked back at my whimpering classmates as they pressed themselves into the wall to get as far as they could from the monsters. Joe Bob then threw the flaming cannon ball in his hand.

I stepped forward and flicked my hand and my shield, which I've named Echo, expands out of the watch on my wrist. The flaming sphere hits the reflective metal and I feel a slight push against my arm. I grin as I peek over the edge of my shield. The stupefied looks on the giant's faces were priceless. There jaws were wide open, and their eyes seemed to be out of there sockets.

Joe Bob was the first to snap out of his funk. "Kill the others first!" He shouted to his associates who snapped out of their funk. Their attention now on Tyson as two of them reared back their throwing arms.

"No!" I shouted and I threw my shield from my arm, with enough force and accuracy to impress Captain America, at the giants. Both unaware of the projectile that was flying towards them. But that was the problem. There was only one shield and two targets.

The shield hit one of the giants in the neck, the contained kinetic energy exploding with enough added force that it was able to snap the giant's neck and kill it almost instantly. It didn't however stop the other from throwing the flaming cannonball straight at Tyson.

"Tyson!" I shouted as the cannon ball struck him square in the chest…but I had nothing to worry about.

Why?

Because Tyson was currently holding the flaming cannon ball in his bare hands.

"_Ah. Monster lesson #33: Cyclops are heavily resistant to fire."_

The giant didn't even have time to react before Tyson threw the ball back with a large amount of force as he screamed 'BAD!' at the top of his lungs. The end result was a large pillar of flames before dying down into ashes.

"Brothers!" Joe Bob wailed. His shirt began to rip as his muscles rippled from anger. "I will feast on your bones!" He threw another sphere at us, but I wasn't completely worried.

I called my magic and a small Sha'an spell activated in my palm. Then out of the ashy remains of the giants Echo flies back to my hand just in time to intercept the projectile. I am super glad that I decided to imprint the Sha'an spell onto the inside of the shield. It makes retrieval so much easier after throwing practice.

What makes things even easier is the small holder in the middle of my shield that holds Riptide. With a simple flourish the bronze blade gleamed in the light.

Racing forward, I swung Riptide in a wide arc and catching one of Joe Bob's friends and turning him into a pile of dust. The hairs on the back of my neck rose and I raised Echo to cover my side from the incoming fist from a giant. That turned out to be his mistake.

As soon as his fist struck Echo, I let loose the stored energy from the cannon shot. A snapping sound echoed before the giant stumbled back, clutching his now broken arm. But he didn't have to suffer long before I stabbed him in the gut.

Now it was just me and Joe Bob as the other giants had disappeared, leaving nothing but gold dust and bowling balls. I could only assume that Tyson had dealt with them going by the flaming balls rolling around the dust.

"You bastard sea spawn!" Joe Bob roared as he lifted the flaming ball in his hands.

His body then stiffens as his eyes go wide. Dribbles of blood flow from his mouth as a silver horn pushes through his chest. No. Not a horn. It was a blade.

As Joe Bob disintegrated into gold dust, a wide grinning Lou Ellen was there with her blade in hand. "Hey Percy." She gave me a chipper greeting.

"Lou?"

"It's not Lou!"

"It's not that I'm not glad to see you." I asked as I turned my weapons back into normal. "But what are you doing here?" I take a sniff as a familiar scent fills my nose. "Do you smell cookies?"

"Oh!" She gasps and then takes off the backpack that she's wearing to pull out a Tupperware container full of blue cookies. "I stopped by your moms first. She gave this huge thing of cookies."

"To share, right?"

"…Maybe?"

"Lou." I gave the short demigoddess my best scolding look before she caved.

"Fine. I'll share. But later." She slapped my hand when I reached for one before turning around and stuffing it in her backpack. I did notice however that she had a few crumbs around her mouth that weren't there before but chose not to comment on it.

BAM! BAM!

The two of us looked at the gym doors at the opposite side of the gym as something kept hitting it from the opposite side. It was then that I started to listen to my surroundings, and I could hear the sound of sirens loud and clear.

"I'm probably going to get blamed for this aren't I?" I gave a sigh of acceptance as the voices of the schoolteachers echoed from beyond the room.

"Percy." Tyson pulled on my sleeve, and I nearly jumped as I forgot that he was here. The poor kid was terrified of what was going on if the way that his eye was darting around was any indication.

"We can talk outside. Meet me on Church Street." Lou spoke as she seemingly disappeared. Almost like she was dramatically stepping back into a fog.

"Wait—" I called after her, but she was already gone. I just sighed before turning back to all the frightened children. "All right Mist. Don't fail me now." I then got my fingers into prime snapping position.

I managed to find Lou without drawing attention to myself as I slipped from Meriwether Prep. I did my best with the mist application and if all went well than the students were now telling the teachers that a bunch of gang members snuck onto campus. However, my control over the mist isn't that good due to only studying the theory and having nothing to practice on until now.

"Hey Perce, who's your friend?" Lou asked as she looked at Tyson. When Lou was claimed at camp Chiron explained that Children of Hecate were heavily sensitive to the Mist. She was probably sensing the heavy amount of Mist over Tysons face.

"Lou. This is Tyson. He's a cyclops." I explained.

She blinked. "He's not gonna eat us right." She leveled a narrowed gaze at the young cyclops, inadvertently causing him to cower.

"No." I adamantly stated. "The only threat he is, is if you have a stash of peanut butter somewhere." Lou just eyed Tyson as she rubbed Moonlight in its concealed form. The air was tense for a few brief moments before she just nodded in acceptance. Apparently, my word was pretty good for her. "So, what has you all the way out here…besides my mom's cookies."

"Camp has been…different." She says with a grimace. I gave her a confused look. "The barriers are failing Percy."

"What/**What?"** Adamos and I said at the same time. Apparently, he didn't know about it either, although I did remember my mom telling me that I might have to stay away from camp this summer but managed to talk her out of the idea.

"Something happened to the tree that protects camp. I don't know what it is but its dying and things have gone straight to hellandpeopleareworriedandChironsgoneandtheinjured—"

"Wait, wait, wait." I cut Lou off as she begins to ramble. "What happened to Chiron?"

Lou's frown deepened at the question. "When the gods found out about the tree, they weren't very happy. Someone needed to be help responsible and the blame went to Chiron. As of now he's no longer employed at the camp."

My mind came to a screeching halt. The sounds around me dulled.

"_Chiron's no longer at camp."_ I repeated this in my mind. It had to be wrong. The campers all loved Chiron and he loved them in return. The idea that he would harm them in any way was ridiculous. The fact that the gods blamed him was even more ridiculous.

"**Sadly, it is a possible truth." **Adamos said solemnly.

"_But it's so stupid. He couldn't have done it. He's been watching their kids for them for centuries. Doesn't that count for something!"_ I mentally scream at him. My anger rising, only to be forcefully suppressed to avoid lashing out. Though judging by the white on my knuckles I was barely succeeding.

"**It does. That reputation has prevented the gods from outright exiling him if not executing him for failing his duties. Failing to protect the camp is a serious offence for an immortal guardian. The fact that someone was able to breach the boundary and compromise the camps defenses, which is housing the essence of Zeus's daughter, is not something that can be easily forgiven."**

"I have to fix this." I mutter with determination.

"What?" Lou looks at me confused, as well as Tyson because I doubt, he has seen me this serious before.

"We need to get to camp quickly so we can fix this. There has to be a way to help. However, we can." This wasn't right. Even if what Adamos said was true, Chiron has never been anything but a true parent figure to those at camp. Without him it just wasn't the same.

"Percy? Where are we going?" Tyson asked. Je looked at Lou and I with his large eye.

"Were going to camp Half Blood." I spoke and walked out into the street. A rune appearing in my hand, summoning my backpack to me.

**X**

The three of us were walking through the streets of New York. The pedestrians splitting like the red sea for us. _"You have a way to get to camp?" _I asked Adamos. I could feel his shifting in my mind, as if he wasn't completely sure about answering.

"…**Yes."** He responded after a moment of contemplation. **"But I don't know if it's the best decision."**

"_The camps in trouble. Any decision is a better one than none." _Adamos sighs beforemuttering a quiet fine. Then with his directions we made it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in just a short amount of time. It also helped that we jogged all the way there.

"Percy where are you taking us?" Lou asked as she eyed the exhibits in the museum.

"To camp." I answered vaguely. I actually had no idea what Adamos had in mind for getting to camp. Was he going to pull some magic out of nowhere and transport us inside a painting and come out of a duplicate that Chiron probably had at camp. Or maybe we were going to find some kind of artifact. I don't think that there's a place to set up a portal like the last time. Maybe we'll…

"**We're here." **Adamos informed me and I realized that I was going on auto pilot while thinking. We were currently in the basement of the museum, surrounded by boxed up exhibits and other supplies that the museum needed.

"_Is there something in these boxes that will help us?" _I asked as I looked into one of the shipping boxes, only to find some masks, most likely from somewhere in Africa.

"**No. Its what's behind them that will help you."** I raised a brow at the statement before gripping the side of the box. I felt my muscles strained as I moved the crate, which was easily hundreds of pounds. A bit of sweat went down my brow as I gave one more shove and moved the crate.

Just behind the crate, engraved into the wall was a small glowing blue delta.

"_Ok. What am I looking at?" _I asked at I looked at the glow in the dark graffiti. I knew it was something demigod related as I could feel the magic pouring out from it.

"**The entrance…to the Labyrinth."** Adamos explained warily. **"Much like the gods it moved west and began to grow beyond its original parameters. I didn't want to come here because its difficult to navigate, even for me. Its magic is chaotic, and the pathways are constantly shifting."**

"_Can it get us to camp?" _

"**I know there are a few nearby entrances so I can get you close. It isn't a precise route, but it will get you close enough. I'm not the god of exploration for nothing."**

"_Good enough for me."_ I thought as I pressed the glowing Delta. Immediately the sound of grinding stones echoed in the room as the wall descended into the floor, creating a doorway into inky blackness.

"Percy, what is that?" Lou asked as she peered into the darkness. Tyson gave a little whimper as he looked into it. The chaotic magic within was probably hitting their senses.

"The fastest way to camp." I explained before taking a pair of worn out shirts from my magical backpack. I gave an end for each of them to hold as I figured that it would help reduce the likelihood of separation. "You guys ready." I asked but before they had a chance to object, I pulled them into the doorway.

**X**

Even with my night vision letting me see I could certifiably say that this place was creepy. The walls seemed to have no consistency as we walked. Switching from concrete to dirt to wood and so on. We passed by what I assumed was a mural made by the Romans (No idea how it got to the U.S) and it seemed to piss Adamos off completely.

Multiple times we found ourselves walking in what seemed to be circles. Sometimes backtracking yet the passage changed completely and even just waiting. I don't know how long we've been down here and I'm starting to think that we might never make it to camp in time.

"Percy. Are we there yet?" Lou asked me again, much like a child on a road trip.

"We're close." I repeated what Adamos told me earlier. I mean she wasn't the only one that was wondering. I was beginning to think that this was a bad idea on my part.

"Wait." Lou pulled on the sleeve causing our little group to stop our tracks. With my night vision I could easily see her head darting to different parts of the corridor. It wasn't anything special. It seemed to be the remnants of some building by the looks of the $1.99 for large fries' sign that was sticking out of the wall.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Percy," Tyson shifted from foot to foot as he kept looking around. His stance reminding me of a skittish animal right before a disaster hit. "They are coming." He whimpered.

"What's coming?" I asked as the two of them began to drag me in the direction we were going. "Guys. Seriously, what…" I asked until a noise hit my ears. A low clicking sound, barely audible but it seemed to grow louder with each passing moment. But the part that was most worrying was that it wasn't just once clicking sound. It was numerous ones. Turning my head slightly I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. Even with my perfect vision in the darkened area, whatever this was sat beyond my field of view. But, just for one brief moment. I saw the shadows move. "We need to run." I barely whispered before I took off, dragging the other two with me.

We took off like the wind but no matter how fast we ran we never seemed to escape the clicking sound. No that would be wrong. It was more that the clicking only seemed to grow louder. A soft buzz filled my head, making Tyson's and Lou's voices distorted as the called to me. All I could do was follow Adamo's worried directions.

Left.

Right.

The second door on the left.

Right.

Right.

Down.

Left.

My legs were beginning to burn, and my lungs hurt from the stale air. I looked back briefly at Tyson and Lou, who seemed even worse off. They hadn't gone through my rigorous training, and the only thing that was saving them was their demigod and monster physiologies.

"Percy!" Lou gasped. "Look!" My head turning forward as the room began to glow. A soft blue light shining like a beacon in the darkness.

In front of me, like a gift from the gods above was a small blue delta engraved into the wall. I probably would have cried at the potential exit, but I held back my tears.

Not even bothering to slow down I slammed into the wall, my arms the only thing to cushion the collision. I pump as much magic into the delta and keep hitting it with the palm of my hand, like a man pressing the useless close door button on an elevator. "Come on! Come on!" I said as I desperately hit the delta. The sound of countless skittering somethings got closer and closer.

"Open the damn door Percy!" Lou shouted as she kept shaking my shoulder. I resisted the urge to snap at her since it wouldn't help in the slightest. Then by some miracle the wall in front of us opened to a blinding light. The three of us didn't even question it as we made a break for wherever we were dumped out, which happened to be an up hill slope out of the base of some tree.

I didn't even hesitate in whipping out Riptide and setting my fire spell, Ignis Aard, up to be used at any moment. Lou seemed to have the same idea as she was holding her own blade like a batter, its curved edge glowing as it prepared to unleash one of her 'flying sword slashes'. Tyson just found a big rock to throw.

However, that didn't seem to be necessary as whatever was following us screeched as it came into contact with the light. The skittering receding further back into the safety the darkness as the entrance to the Labyrinth.

"Next time. Flashlights." I mumbled numbly. I didn't even see if the other heard me as I looked around. Familiar trees surrounded us and off in the distance was a highway. I walked over to get a better look as highways were a sign of civilization, but I wouldn't need it to find people as I knew where we were.

The scorched mark on the pavement and remaining glass shards were all I needed to see.

We were where the Minotaur fist attacked me, my mom and Grover.

Turning down the street, just a ways away was a familiar pine tree sitting on top of a hill, but just one glance was enough to show me how wrong things really were. The normal green pine tinsel was yellowed and dead in some clumps. It just looked so…sick.

Then as I was looking at the tree a large ball of flame erupted from the other side of the hill. "Shit!" I hear Lou curse as she takes off running. "Come on they need us!" Not even needing another reason I took off with Tyson behind me. I didn't know why, but I had a feeling thing were going to get worse.

**A/N: Hey everyone. Not dead. Just lazy. Yeah…**

**Anyways here's the chapter. Don't really have much, actually to the reader black9. The reason is that Adamas is already a word in the Greek language. Adamos is just changing a singular letter to make a name. And TheDragon2000. Atreus is just Loki. So maybe?**

**Anyways I do take suggestions in order to better improve this fic so just PM me if there is something that you think is good or just want to help.**

**Stay sexy you beasts.**

**Momentei over and out**


	29. Chapter 28: Its Just Not The Same

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 28**

**Its Just Not The Same**

Fire.

Fire and screaming.

And bulls.

When I reached the top of the hill, I wasn't expecting what looked like a mythical Texas barbeque gone wrong.

Two massive bulls were charging through the camp, each were roughly the size of a small elephant. The campers were trying to control the situation, but it just wasn't working. The younger, less experienced ones were panicking while the older campers were split between trying to douse the fires and combating the bulls.

"Border patrol! To me!" A gruff but probably female shouted as she rallied what little forces that she could.

"Come on! We have to help Clarisse." Lou called out as she took out her sword and began sending swipes at the bulls, not so much to damage them but to lead them away from the cabins. Normally going to help Clarisse wasn't something I would do since she and the rest of her siblings don't like me, but there are exceptions to every rule. And seeing as she is fighting a giant metal bull with a broken spear while some of the other campers were running around panicking, I thought that this could be a perfect exception.

Just as I was about to go help.

"Percy." I turned around to see Tyson standing outside the camps boundaries. I nearly face palm. Tyson was a monster so he couldn't get through, and even if the bulls did get through, I didn't know how so that option wouldn't work.

"**Cabin leaders can allow monsters within camp if they give consent." **Adamos pointed out. **"Vampire rules." **

What is it with him and vampires?

"Uh, Tyson as the head of the Poseidon cabin…I hereby, uh…just get in here!" I shout before rushing down the hill; there was no time for formalities. The sound of heavy footsteps behind me telling me that he got past the barrier.

I released Riptide and Echo as I ran down the hill. Clarisse was shouting orders at the other campers, trying to get them into a phalanx formation. It was a good plan, but she was lacking the necessary amount of people for a suitable defense.

"Hold the line!" Clarisse ordered as the massive bull opened its mouth and let out a torrent of white-hot flames.

Off to the side Lou was trying to fend off the second bull with a few other campers. "Tyson! Help them!" I ordered, pointing to Clarisse. I went the other way towards Lou, hoping he followed my orders.

I pulled the earth beneath me and stomped the ground. A large stone spike erupted out of the ground, slamming into the metal bulls right front leg and leaving a massive dent. The force was enough to knock it onto its side and partially cripple the appendage.

"RRooohhh!" The bull cried as it began to thrash around, Flames leapt from its mouth and random parts of its body.

I jumped in front of one of the other campers and put Echo in between us and the flames. The shield holding against the heat, only becoming faintly hot, not even noticeable really, as it took the blast.

"Aard!" I say and use the shield as a conductor for the magic. The stored flames are released and strike the bull with fire as hot as its own, flames hotter than I can create. The blast disorients the bull as it wasn't expecting it, thus allowing for the perfect opportunity for Lou to stab it in the throat with her magically charged blade.

The bull sputters and thrashes as the blade sinks deeper. Whatever magic Lou is using to protect herself is barely holding as she is sweating profusely, and her skin is becoming a burning red color. I quickly stab the bull in one of its ruby eyes and twist the blade, effectively killing it and the flames.

"Great now I'm sweaty." Lou complained as she wiped her brow.

"I think we have more pressing matters than your sweatiness." I commented. Lou's response was to just stick her tongue out at me.

"Percy?" A voice spoke from behind us. The camper I just saved pulled her helmet off letting her blonde hair fall.

Annabeth.

The two of us didn't exactly end last summer on the best terms. I wasn't mad at her anymore, but I wouldn't call us friends by any means.

"Hey." I said, but I could feel the awkwardness of the situation. The silence was getting even more awkward as we just kept an even gaze between each other.

The sounds of shouting drew our attention and I silently thank what ever higher power as I rush off and jump in front of the mob of angry campers that were holding Tyson at spear-point. The other bull had flames pouring out of various wounds made by campers and a badly dented skull courtesy of Tyson. And a spear through its jaw and brain from Clarisse.

"Woah, woah! Hold on a minute!" I hold my shield in front of me to ward off any potential stabbings.

I could see Clarisse glaring from under her helmet. "Out of the way Prissy. He's a monster."

"Brilliant observation there detective," The words fall out of my mouth. Adamos has mentioned that I tend to fall on sarcasm and sass in stressful situations. "Anything else you want to point out?" I could see Clarisse's knuckles whiten with anger.

"Percy." Annabeth interjected, probably keeping Clarisse from trying to rip me a new one. "Why is that in camp?" She asks with narrowed eyes as she looked at Tyson. Her gaze was cold, not in the analytical kind that she usually has but rather a type of deep disdain.

"Guys we can talk about this later." Lou pushed her way to the center, forcing everyone's attention on her. "There's wounded campers and we need to let Tantalus know what happened." She spoke the name in a frosty tone.

The other campers shared her expression, all animosity for Tyson had shifted over to Tantalus. It was quite a sight and I wondered just how badly this guy was that the camp immediately hated him.

Not that anyone seemed willing to answer that question as immediately they began carrying the injured campers to the Big House.

I let out a sigh and just walked to the parts of the camp that flames continued to burn. As the only person with water powers it falls to me to put out the majority of the fires.

"Huuh." I let out a sigh. _"This was not how I thought today would go."_

* * *

**X**

* * *

Camp was different. There was hardly any laughter. No one was running around that wasn't on some job. Campers were busy sharpening swords; satyrs were doing inventory. The dryads were armed with bows and arrows at the edge of the forest.

This wasn't he Camp Half Blood I remember.

Not that it seemed to matter to Tyson. The child cyclops was staring at everything with awe and wonder. Every second was him gasping and pointing at different things, asking about what they were and such. It was a little annoying when he asked about the obvious like the lunch tables and even a trashcan, but I didn't hold it against him. I was sort of in awe like him when I first came to camp.

After the unorthodox version of the camp tour I stopped in front of my cabin. I wanted to drop my things off inside and maybe say hello to Hestia. Or maybe call my mom from the Big House phone before that. I sort of left abruptly and she was no doubt worried.

I felt a small shiver go down my spine for the chewing out I was probably going to get about disappearing.

"Wow," Tyson muttered in awe as he looked around the inside of cabin three. "And you live here with your friends?"

"Nah," I placed my bags on my bed and discretely kick some dirty clothes back into the hidden space under my bunk. I may or may not have just shoved it there for convenience. "I room here alone. No siblings so I don't share with anyone." I really didn't feel like explaining the no children of the big three thing to Tyson. It was embarrassing enough already, although I do have extra room. Maybe I can ask Poseidon if Lou can stay ever sometimes. Maybe some of the other campers as well.

"—and did you see the flying ponies! They were so pretty. And—" I rushed back to reality, unintentionally zoning out from Tysons ramblings about the things at camp.

"Sorry Tyson. I need to make a stop by the big house. Feel free to take a bed." I said before walking out of the cabin. The last thing I saw was Tyson bouncing up and down. I made a mental note to see if the Hephaestus cabin for any future repairs.

Making my way up to the Big House I didn't expect it, but inwardly I was a bit glad that I saw Chiron.

"So… your leaving?" I asked as I eyed the lavender suitcase next to him. Seeing it only made the present situation more real.

Chiron's eyes seemed a bit dulled, his smile not reaching his eyes like it normally did. "Indeed. Some one needed to take the fall. The tree made from the soul of his daughter poisoned. He was quite furious."

My fist clenched, my nails biting into my skin, almost to draw blood. "But its not right. It wasn't your fault. It was Luke and Kro—"

"Percy." Chiron cut me off with a stern tone. "I advise you not to invoke the titan lords name. Especially not at this time or place."

"But its so obvious. Who else could it be but them!"

"Whether it was them or not is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that the tree was poisoned under my watch. I could not prevent it nor can I cure it. The poison is such that I've never seen before. In my own professional opinion, the tree has only a few weeks left unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Nothing. Never mind. A foolish thought. There is only one thing with the potential power to reverse this, but it hasn't been seen or heard of in centuries. But enough, I heard that you brought a rather exotic guest into camp when you arrived." He asked with a raised brow.

"Umm." I was caught in a bad position. After the hell hound incident last summer, other than the harpies, no one seemed all to keen on the idea of monsters in camp and a cyclops was probably one of the more known monsters that demigods had to deal with. "His name is Tyson and he's a cyclops." I said without looking him in the eyes.

The few moments of silence as Chiron stared at me were unbearable. Topped only by Hestia and my mom. There was just something about the disappointment of a mom that always outclassed that of a dad. "Well that's fine." He shrugged breaking the tension. "But its not up to me anymore. That decision belongs to Tantalus." Chiron must have notice my frown was deeper than normal. "I take it you've met him?"

"Not even. I haven't even seen the guy and I can feel the hate from everyone else."

Chiron let out a sigh of exasperation. Chiron opened his mouth to speak but the sound of a conch horn echoed through the camp cut him off. "You will meet him at dinner. I will contact your mother and tell her you are all right Percy. Now off you go and stay safe. The camp can't afford to lose anyone." With that he clopped back into the Big House.

* * *

**X**

* * *

I went back for Tyson and brought him to the pavilion for dinner, but the atmosphere was even worse than I thought. An air of depression hung like a stormy cloud over everyone's head. The negative emotion was so thick that I thought a few times that I could actually feel it. It was a miracle that the brazier was barely half the size as it usually was, most likely only because Hestia was tending to the flame, but I could tell that even she didn't have her heart in it.

Although it wasn't until Tyson and I arrived that the atmosphere shifted. And I don't think in the good way as everyone started to whisper. Annabeth seemed to be the wariest of Tyson. She wasn't even trying to hide the disdain in her look. I was half tempted to flip her off right there if she kept up with the looks.

"Well, well. If it isn't Peter Johnson. Now my millennia is complete." A voice reached across the entire pavilion. A slight drawl constantly present in his tone.

"It's Percy Jackson…sir." I added through grit teeth.

Mr. D just waved me off. "Well as you kids say these days: Whatever." The man took a dissatisfied sip from his diet coke. "This is the one you need to watch. Poseidon's kid." He spoke off handedly to the man sitting in Chiron's spot.

The guy was deathly pale, his hair a dead gray. His body was nothing but skin and bones, his ribs could be seen through the orange jumpsuit that he wore. His dirty, skinny fingers constantly twitched, like they were ready to move at a moment's notice. His beady eyes locked on me and his lips stretched into some bastardized forced smile. His mouth showing too many teeth to be comfortable.

"**Tantalus." **Adamos spoke up. I could feel his indifference towards the creepy prisoner. As if he wasn't worth the effort of a glance. **"Sentenced to an eternal punishment of starvation and dehydration in the underworld for the crime of killing his son and serving him as food to the gods."**

I nearly choked on my spit as a horrible feeling filled my gut. This was the guy that the gods put in charge of a camp of children. Are you serious! This is just a disaster waiting to happen!

"I can see what you mean Lord Dionysus. He certainly has the look of a troublemaker." Tantalus spoke. I felt like there was an underlying amount of satisfaction in his voice. As if he was looking forward to something that only he knew.

"And you look like you could use a sandwich." The words flowed out of my mouth. "Or maybe a drink." I took a sip from a goblet that was in front of me. Normally I hated when I blurt out my thoughts, but this guy didn't deserve any sympathy.

Tantalus's face turned red from anger. "A real comedian, are you?" He sneered at me. "I hope that you can hold that tongue of yours. Fools that open their mouths often find themselves with poor fates."

I was about to retort but I felt a warmth across my back and an iron grip on my mind. The action of a god and goddess more than enough reason to hold my tongue to keep things from escalating.

Not that I liked it.

"I'll be watching you Jackson." Tantalus's eyes narrowed on me. "I don't want any problems in my camp."

I held my mouth and went to sit at my table. "The monster however is another matter."

Tantalus' words made me freeze. "Tyson helped save the camp. If he didn't than this whole place would have burned down."

"And what a shame that would be." Tantalus drawled making Mr. D snicker. "Leave us so we may decide the creature's fate."

I opened my mouth to protest but Mr. D shot me a warning glare that I was starting to push my luck. My mouth shut with a hard click. I didn't want to push it if it meant that Tyson would be punished. I may have beaten Ares last summer but that was through combat where most of his powers were restrained and Mr. D is to lazy to ever go through with a challenge.

Tyson sat at the head table, clearly not enjoying being in such close proximity to Tantalus. The rest of Dinner went by quietly. None of the campers spoke up and just ate in a subdued manner. I sent a silent prayer to Poseidon on what to do to help the camp, but like always I didn't get a response.

"_There has to be a way to fix camp." _I mentally spoke as I ate my pizza. The sausage and pepperoni not tasting as good as I remember. Probably because of the mood.

"**Until we get know what we are dealing with I can't say for sure."**

"_What about whatever that thing that Chiron was talking about before he left."_ I asked.

"**Could have been anything. The chains of Prometheus have healing capabilities, but I doubt enough to save the tree. Asclepius could cure it, but he's all the way in Greece. I don't see us finding enough Baetylus stones to make a difference in such a short time. And it's not like we can ask any of the other healing gods for their healing treasures."**

"_So, they're just going to do nothing as the tree dies? IF they have ways of healing the tree than why not? And don't give me that crap on ancient laws."_ I immediately add as Adamos was about to speak.

"**It is about ancient laws."** Adamos spoke with a bit of a bite in his tone. **"Godly treasures aren't supposed to be in the hands of mortals anyways. One wrong reaction and Apollo's healing arrows could release a plague. Some things are just not worth the risk."**

"_Then what can we look for?"_

"**I think we need to speak to Hestia later for anything concrete." **I sigh and place my half-eaten pizza on my plate, my appetite gone. To many things to think about.

The sound of a conch caught everyone's attention to Tantalus who was standing at the head table.

"Attention. Attention. Now that the summer is officially starting, I do hope to devote enough time to individually tortu—I mean interact with each and every one of you wonderful campers." Tantalus announced with a mad smile. "And as my first act as the new activities' director, we are reinstating the chariot races!"

The entire camp erupted into a cacophony of voices laced with fear, disbelief, and excitement.

My brow raised at the varied reactions. Excitement I could understand, but the fear was something new. I may have not been at camp for long, but I had never seen any campers show fear towards one of the activities. Not even the rock wall and that thing spit out lava.

"Now I know that they were discontinued due to technical difficulties."

"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations!" some one from the Apollo table called out.

"Yes, yes." Tantalus waved off without a care. "But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Gold laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning. The first race shall be held in three days' time. Oh, and did I mention that the victorious cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?"

Instantly the entire pavilion explodes with excitement. The idea pf no chores for a month. No stable duty, no kitchen patrol. Nothing. I could already see the diabolical looks of the Hermes cabin and made a mental note to look for a magical lock or something for my cabin. And check for any laxatives in my food.

Actually, I think I'm going to just double check everything.

"But sir!" Clarisse stood up, surprising me as I didn't expect her to be the first to object. "What about patrol duty? If we drop everything for the chariots—"

"Ah, young Clarisse." Tantalus exclaimed, cutting her off. "One of the two brave heroes, along with Annabeth Chase, leading the campers against the bronze bulls."

"Um, I didn't—" Clarisse stuttered with a blush.

"And modest too. But not to worry my dear! This is a summer camp. We are here to enjoy ourselves, are we not?" Tantalus said, diverting the conversation. The man obviously had no love for the camp and at the rate this was going I bet we would have another monster attack soon. "But before we proceed to the next camp activity there is one more issue. Percy Jackson and Lou Ellen Blackstone have decided to bring this," He waved his hand at Tyson, as if motioning to a mangy stray dog. "into camp."

The excitement faded away and was replaced by unsettled murmurs and sideways glances in my direction.

If I Iris call Hades could he drag Tantalus back down into the Underworld, or maybe i could ask Adamos if he could teach me how to assassinate someone?

Percy Jackson: Assassin of Olympus.

...

Nah, that would never work out.

"Now everyone knows that cyclopes have a nasty reputation as blood thirsty monsters with very limited intelligence," I could hear a few snickers at Tantalus' remark but I didn't know who it was to send my glare. "But who knows? Maybe this beast may prove its worth to the camp rather than impromptu hunter training. Until such things are determined we need a place to keep it. The stables are out of the question as he will spook the horses. The Hermes cabin?" The entire Hermes table suddenly went quiet. "Demeter cabin? No? Come now surely someone has an idea of where the monster may be kenneled?"

I was about to stand up and offer my cabin when the unexpected happened.

A glowing green trident floated above Tyson's head. The same one that Poseidon used to claim me with.

The campers were silent, not knowing what to do. Claiming was a rare and revered moment in camp and many of them waited their entire lives for the event. Last summer when I was claimed the campers all knelt before me. Yet here is Tyson. A cyclops.

A technical monster.

He was given what many campers desired. I looked around me. Some were confused at what to do, not knowing if they should kneel, yet at the Hermes table they were just angry. The unclaimed that had been at camp were glaring at Tyson as he swat at the floating trident. I could only imagine what they were thinking, and none of them were good.

"Bwahahaha!" The sound of Tantalus' choking dry laughter echoed through the silence. "Well! I think that we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the resemblance!"

One by one the rest of the camp joined in on the laughter. Only some of my friends, like the Stolls, Katie Gardner, and Lou didn't laugh. Surprisingly Annabeth wasn't laughing either, but neither did she look sympathetic or pitying. Maybe her hatred of Tantalus outweighed her dislike of me.

But that wasn't changing anything. My anger still spiked and fists clenched, my nails almost the skin of my palms.

"**Pay no attention to any of them." **Adamos calmly speaks into my mind. **"They are shrouded in their own insecurities and frustrations to what they see as unfair."**

I held my tongue, but I didn't like it.

* * *

**X**

* * *

Sleep alluded me tonight and it wasn't because Tyson snores like a rabid chainsaw…okay that may partially be it.

After dinner I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Away from the taunting laughs and the cruel remarks. I'd have to apologize to my friends for brushing them off but hopefully they understood. Tyson immediately followed me, giggling every once in a while, like he had just been given the best present on Christmas morning. I didn't know how I should feel for having Tyson as a brother. I read that the gods sometimes had monster children, but I had yet to even meet my godly half siblings. The idea of actually thinking of them as family was confusing and complex.

I could picture Adamos pinching the bridge of his nose, muttering about our shared father, if the emotions that I'm feeling from are anything to go by. It wasn't anything malicious or bad, just a bit of exhaustion at the circumstance. Meaning that I would deal with this new set of circumstances myself. And in my endless ideas of how best to solve what I'm feeling, I do the one thing that could possibly solve my problems.

Talk to Hestia.

It wasn't hard sneaking out since Tyson is a heavy sleeper and being near invisible in dark places helps with patrolling harpies, allowing me to make it to the pavilion in record walking time.

Just like always, sitting at the base of the brazier was an eight-year-old goddess. Her usual smile seemed shallow compared to all the other times I had seen her. Most likely the state of the camp was affecting her too. She quickly hid it however when she noticed me as I sat beside her.

"Hello Percy." Her voice was as soft and comforting as ever. "I take it you wish to talk about recent events?"

I released a sigh and allowed myself to decompress, no longer holding the emotions in. "Yeah. It's just…a lot to adapt too."

"Indeed. Its not everyday that a demigod meets one of their more mythical family members." She moved the wood around the brazier with her poker, but it felt like her entire attention was on me despite not making eye contact. "How do you feel about it?"

It felt like a loaded question. One that I couldn't just brush off without disappointing the goddess in front of me. "I feel… complicated." Hestia looked at me with an expecting gaze, urging me to continue. "On one hand I don't mind having Tyson as a brother. He's a good person, err, monster? Kid, he's a good kid. But on the other hand, he is still a monster and camp is already tense enough as it is. Its kind of making me rethink if it was a good idea to bring him here in the first place."

"Having a monster within the boundaries is nothing new, the satyrs and harpies being good examples." She pointed out.

"Yeah but the campers' morale is low enough as it is. Especially when dad claimed him in front of everyone." I exclaimed as I leaned against the steps of the brazier "I don't think that I've ever seen the Hermes cabin so angry."

"Poseidon always was one to follow his whims if he believed they would help."

"Help who exactly?" I muttered as I rested my head on my hand. Adamos told me the same thing long ago. That Poseidon was much like the oceans that he commanded. Unpredictable and ever changing.

"Tell me Percy. Is it truly the camp you are worried about or is it yourself?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. The question catching me off guard.

"Is the morale of the what you are truly worried about? Or is it what the other campers will think of you from now on?" Hestia's eyes bore into my own, not in a harsh way but a soft look that a told of limitless patience.

"I think…it's a bit of both." I admitted unsure. Hestia raised a brow.

"I'm worried that many of the other unclaimed campers will leave because of this. And I guess a small part of me is worried what the other campers will think." It wasn't anything new. I was never the most popular at any school I attended. Usually at the bottom of the school hierarchy. It never bothered me to much. I never stayed around enough for a second year to care. But this was different. At camp there would always be a place for me, I would always fit in somewhere. Even when the campers were avoiding me last year it was bearable because some of them were still nice enough to hang out with me.

But now? I would be known as the kid with the monster sibling. I would be the outcast even in a camp of outcasts. The mere thought of it made a pit form in my gut.

"I know it will be hard at first Percy, but you mustn't let this affect you." Hestia rested a hand on my shoulder. Her hand radiating a comforting warmth. "You do have friends here at the camp that sympathize with you and will stick by you. Focus on them and not the others." Her words comforted me. I swear I was partially wondering if she was actually the goddess of wisdom rather than Athena. "Now enough of this inner self discovery. I assume that you came here for something else?"

"Yeah." I said silently thanking Hestia for the subject change. The goddess always knew when to stop pushing when necessary. "Earlier when I was talking to Chiron, he mentioned something that may be able to save the camp, but he didn't explain what it was. Adamos had a few ideas but nothing for sure since he didn't know where they could be."

"Chiron was right. If there is anything in the Greek world that can save the tree and restore the camp to what it once was it would be one artifact." I raised a brow at Hestia as she took out the tome and began looking through the pages. She stopped at the page she wanted and flipped the book around. The words rearranged themselves to be read as a picture of a golden ram was sketched into the page. "The golden fleece. The treasure sought after by the Argonauts when the gods still made their home in Greece."

"Will it really work?"

Hestia nodded. "The fleece has always held great healing and nature properties. I know that it will work."

"Do you where it is? Just tell me and I can go get it." I asked eagerly. The sooner I get the fleece the sooner that camp is returned to normal and hopefully Chiron will return as the camp activities director.

"All in due time Percy." Hestia stored the book back in her robes. "Despite how it may seem the gods are not completely idle in this matter and your time to help will come. The only thing I can tell you is to remember what I am about to tell you." I nod and give her my undivided attention. "30, 31, 75, 12."

…I blink. "Did you just give me a math problem?"

"Coordinates Percy. I gave you coordinates." Hestia said in an amused tone. "Though I must say that your brother takes a rather zealous amount of details in regard to the mythical treasures."

Cue feelings indignation and sulking from my resident god.

"Now off to bed with you." Hestia shooed me away from the brazier with a soft poke from her fire poker. "Your brother has probably a few million ideas that he wants you to do for him, so you'll have to get up early in the morning."

I pale at the thought. Adamos was never one to hold back when he wanted something. The last time that I told him I was to tired to do anything he just told me to surpass my limits and then started blasting sound effects until I got out of bed. And let me tell you I nearly had a heart attack when he played the Godzilla roar on full blast.

"ByeAuntHestiaIgottagogoodnight!" I said really quickly before running to catch what little hours of sleep I could. I could hear Hestia giggling as I ran off.

I might not be allowed to go after the fleece, at least not right now, but that didn't mean that there weren't hundreds of other problems around the camp that couldn't be solved.

And the first problem on my list that requires my immediate attention?

Trying not to become a figurative zombie tomorrow morning from lack of sleep.

**Omake: Pray to the Heavenly Father**

In a time of war and conflict a lone young girl knelt within a church. Her hands clasped together in prayer as her ocean blue eyes gazed up at the magnificent cross before her. He visage could only be described as breath taking as the sun poured through the glass windows of the church, solely illuminating the place where she prayed, as if all the world's attention was exclusively on her.

She was a beauty that many would say would belong among the angels in heaven. Her long hair that reached past her back was a majestic golden color that was never tarnished by dirt or grime, even when it touched the barren church floor. Her youthful and smile warmed the hearts of many and inspired countless more. A silver head piece rested above her brow accenting her brilliant eyes amongst the golden locks.

She wore a form fitting dark blue attire that showed her rather generous bust but was partially hidden beneath a robe of the same color. Upon her waist she wore an armored girdle that covered her hip. Upon her limbs she wore a sparse amount of armor, just enough to cover forearms and up to her knees.

This was Jeanne d'Arc. The Maiden of Orleans and Heroine of the Hundred years war.

"Oh father, I ask of you to bless us with victory and an end to this war. If not for me than for the men who have fought at my side. They are good soldier and companions with families that only wish to bring peace during these troubled times." She spoke reverently, her voice was soft yet filled the entire room. "I know that you are not allowed to directly intervene in the affairs of mortals, but I pray that you will show them the same light that you have given to me whenever I needed comfort or guidance." The heroine prayed to her father up in heaven.

Elsewhere

In a realm far off. One hidden from all unwanted eyes and intruders. A sacred place filled with its own life, untouched by the hands of man and allowed to grow into a paradise of nature and magic.

In a disclosed location far off where nothing resided. A familiar god paced back and forth in the middle of a large circular stone platform surrounded by water and partially submerged ruins. Every now and then he looked back to a large whiteboard filled with scribbles and random notes. Next to it two women stood in attendance wearing maid uniforms, the black and white complementing their snow-white hair and ruby eyes.

"What do I do, what do I do?!" Adamos ran his hands through his hair as he roared with frustration. A certain problem causing him no end of frustration and misery. "Gah! I can't think of anything!"

"Master I believe that it would be best to leave this problem for another time." One of the maids spoke as she rifled through a stack of parchments. "There are many documents that require your attention in a more immediate time." She sent a sharp gaze towards her master emphasizing the importance of the paperwork.

"I promise you Sella that I do take my duties very seriously." Adamos wiped everything off of the whiteboard before turning to his servant. "But the needs of my wonderful daughter outshine all of them. I mean what kind of father would I be if I wasn't there for her. Or worse. What if she hates me for it?" The god shouted with fear and very animated tears as he imagined his daughter resenting him. The very idea was like a stab wound

"Yeah Sella." The other maid spoke up with a monotone voice. "Get off the masters dick. My boys got this wrapped up."

"You know it Leysritt." Adamos sent the blank faced maid a grateful smile.

"Well excuse me if I don't believe that the master has this 'wrapped up' girlfriend." Sella shot back. Her criticisms weren't unwarranted as their master had been trying to solve this problem for an entire week but nothing, he came up with seemed satisfactory enough for him to give to his daughter.

"Sella please don't." Leysritt emotionlessly pleaded.

"Well I happen to have one at the ready." Adamos said in a serious tone as he cracked his neck.

Sella let out a sigh as she grabbed a literal magic marker and wiped something away before writing something else in its place. "Conceptualized weapon or power. Attempt # 251." Sella spoke with an air of defeat, already used to her master's personality.

Adamos tenses, his eyes closed as he sets himself up. Then as if a flip was switched his eyes snap open.

"ETERNAL! JEANNE! FEVER!" He shouts with each word accompanied by a dynamic pose until he makes a T pose, almost as if he was preaching toward the sky in reverence. Adamos emitted a beam of light in the shape of his posing body. The beam soared off into the distance before colliding with a distant mountain. The beam exploded on impact, making a massive ball of fire and light that engulfed the horizon and turned the sky red. The force of the blast reached all the way to the ruins, kicking up the dresses of Sella and Leysritt's maid uniforms slightly, neither reacting to the destruction. The explosion soon died down revealing that the entire top half of the mountain had been obliterated.

"Huh?" Adamos looked at his handiwork as he rubbed his chin in an inquisitive way. "I could have sworn I only tried to use a below average beam."

"Ohhh." Leysritt gave a very polite soft clap.

Sella on the other hand…

"I seriously question the sanity in the decision to bestow a teenage girl, no matter how well behaved, an anti-fortress level power."

"But it will destroy any enemies that try to attack her." Adamos spoke as if it made perfect sense.

"Damn straight." Leysritt nodded. "Lady Jeanne will style all over her enemies' corpses."

Sella's eye twitched as the two began to agree with each other. She knew her master was a highly intelligent being and could always apply the appropriate amount of serious to any situation. However, his love for his children had to be one of his few weaknesses that caused him to throw common sense out of the window. Knowing that there was only one way to prevent mass destruction and the embarrassment and humiliation of a young maiden Sella used a tried and true weapon that she always had in her arsenal.

"If you bestow such a technique upon her you know it will only draw attention to her from other pantheons." Sella spoke bluntly making Adamos tense. "Others will definitely be after her to learn the secrets of the magic. She will be sought after a by unsavory individuals and all the time wonder where her dear papa is."

"If they try," Adamos spoke with only the seriousness and fury a protective parent can have "I'll kill them."

"Or we can try a more subtle approach." Sella pointed out, saving France from being wiped from existence.

"I'm listening…" Adamos gave her his full attention.

On a battlefield in France

"Onward my comrades." Jeanne commanded. "We must drive them back! For the glory of France!" Jeanne hoisted a battle standard into the air. The white and gold flag acting like an untarnished beacon. "Here's the work of the Lord! My flag defend our brethren! **Luminosité Eternelle!"**

The clouds part in reverence to her words. Her figure is bathed in divine light as her comrades are bolstered with newfound strength.

"Can you see them father." Jeanne whispers. "This is your miracle at work. Thank you." She speaks with pious love to her divine parent.

Elsewhere

"Now that is over, I really need you to…" Sella begins but is cut off by…

"Yeah! She loves it! She really loves it!" Adamos shouts with glee before running over to Sella and giving her a full-blown kiss on the cheek to show his appreciation. "Sella you beautiful genius!" He then takes the papers from her stiff hands and walking off.

Leysritt just looks at the shell-shocked Sella, whose pale face had become the same shade of ruby as her eyes, with a stoic unchanging expression. "Lucky." She speaks in monotone, but you could hear the underling tone of envy. She then turns follows after her master, leaving Sella in her frozen state.

**A/N:**

**Hey everyone. Not much in this chapter but the omake was something that I wanted to try when one of you suggested something. It's the first time I've written an omake so I don't know if I did a good job. I kinda feel like I wrote too much. Anyways I hope you get what references I put in there. They are blatantly obvious. **

**Anyways make sure you all stay healthy you sexy beasts!**


	30. Chapter 29: Quest Crashers

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(Except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 29**

**Quest Crashers**

Have I ever mentioned how much I love magic?

Probably a lot. But I mean come on. There's a field of magic for just about everything. Alchemy, elemental magic, runes, dolls, summoning. It's just a near limitless amount of cool stuff to learn. One in particular is turning out to be extremely helpful.

Bounded fields.

As my brother so kindly explained as he had me look through the tome of magic that I kept with me, bounded fields are just like the border of camp, just on a weaker scale. But that was fine. The camp boundaries were mostly up anyways. The only thing wrong was the mostly part.

After lunch the day after I got to camp I took a stroll through the woods, the very same where I was claimed during my first summer, to look for any inconsistencies with the border.

I had already found three within twenty minutes.

It was a bit unnerving that the camp was so reachable. There were damn blind spots that the border patrols didn't even know about. We were lucky so far since the nymphs live in the forest and can potentially take out any strays that wander in but even then, it was a stop gap defense at best. The nature spirits weren't violent by nature, just territorial. If one of the larger or more ferocious monsters, or more specifically one that breathes fire, ever came through these holes. I physically shudder at the absolute slaughter that would happen.

But now with my newly acquired knowledge (read Adamos' instructions) on bounded fields I should be able to fix up enough of the holes to protect the camp until something permanent can be established.

The first step was enlisting help. Now normally you can just inscribe a magic circle in multiple places around where you want and call it a day. Normally.

You see the problem with that is that it's meant for something the size of a large house with a decent sized front and backyard at most.

The camp however is many acres of open land and wilderness along with a beach. If I want to be able to set up a field around camp, I'm going to need to take a different approach.

That's what lead me to the camp forges talking with Charles Beckendorf.

* * *

**Flashback**

* * *

"And how many of these do you need?" Charles asked me with a skeptical brow. This wasn't unexpected as I knew I was making a rather…odd demand.

"About a two hundred." I answered looking at the sketch of the item laying across a worktable. At first glance it looked like a simple iron stake, however this was something that was to be crafted by the demigod children of Hephaestus. They were anything but.

All along the stake were a decently complex pattern of grid lines that all met at the tip. The space between the grids at the tip of the spike were designed to open up and anchor themselves into the ground upon activation.

Both of our heads turned as something in the forge crashed loudly. Both of us turned around to see Tyson looking embarrassed he fiddled with some wiring in his hands. One of the projects that the Hephaestus cabin was working on, a prosthetic arm, was moving around. The sudden movement from the arm knocked a box of tools off the bench and onto the floor.

"Tyson," I said with a sigh. The young cyclops had the decency to look sheepish as he tried to put the wires back where they were. "What have I told you about touching things?"

"If they aren't mine, ask first." He muttered. His one eye looking anywhere but me.

I gave him a gentle nod before turning back to Beckendorf. "I'm sorry. I'll help you clean that up." I offered but the smith wasn't paying me any attention.

"Show me what you did." It was a statement just as much as it was a question, yet it wasn't demanding but rather soft. An unusual tone coming from the burly smith that preferred the direct approach in conversations.

Beckendorf walked over to Tyson and looked over the arm. Tyson delicately picked up the arm and opened a hidden compartment. He then went on to explain what he did and how with the demigod smith nodding all along. Most of—scratch that, all of what they were talking about went completely went over my head, and Adamos was to lazy to bother explaining it.

"Ughm," I coughed, drawing their attention. "About my order?" I tried not to seem impatient but watching idly was never easy for a demigod.

Beckendorf rubbed his chin in thought. "I'll make you a deal." He said after a moment. "I'll let bump your request to the top of the list," I felt a smile break out on my face, and for some reason heard Adamos grumbling about businesses and poker faces. "BUT!" I faltered for a split second. Beckendorf then patted Tyson on the back. "You have to let your brother work here while he's at camp."

I blinked. Was that all? I get what I need and all I have to do is hand over Tyson, who looks like he wants me to accept!

"You want to hang out with Charles big guy?" I asked the young cyclops. His one eye widened before he practically bounced around in excitement. His size causing some of the tools to shake on their tables. "Well Beck," I looked at the smith. "Looks like you got another worker for your sweat shop." I joked and got an amused eye roll in return.

"What's a sweat shop?"

* * *

**Flashback end**

* * *

As soon as the words left Tyson's mouth, I booked it right out of there. It was a little awkward coming back at the end of the day to get the first half of the spikes for the bounded field and to pick up Tyson. I mean I could feel Beckendorf's stare trying to drill holes in the back of my head for leaving him that mess of a conversation.

Yeah, I think I'm going to take my time before picking up the rest of the spikes.

Anyways, on the next day I ran into a little snag. When I was hammering the spikes into the grounds, I had to use the butt of Riptide to hammer them in since I forgot to grab a hammer, I came across a few…pests that needed extermination.

* * *

**Flashback**

* * *

I had just went to check in on Tyson. Apparently Beckendorf was using Tyson's inborn cyclops metalworking magic to help with his chariot. He was very forward when I found them working on the chariot.

Tyson felt bad but I didn't hold it against him. I wasn't even going to be in the races anyways as I had far too much to do so I tried to reassure him that it was all cool.

RAWK!

I looked around trying to find the noise as I was drawn from my thoughts. The reason being that animals are not a common sight within the camp. The barrier naturally keeping a majority of them out and even then, that didn't sound at all like a normal bird. It was more out of reflex to the uncommon noise in the camp than anything else.

I looked up to a nearby group of large trees. They bordered a short distance away from the coliseum that I had used earlier this morning to beat the entire Apollo cabin i all spar. I felt a smirk of pride on my face. They weren't the best at close quarters but taking down a large group is still no easy feat.

I quickly shove the feeling of pride away, it wasn't important. As I looked around a shimmer caught my eye.

You know how you can look at a picture and someone mentions something, but you just can't see it until its literally pointed out to you?

That's what I was feeling before a glare hit my eyes forcing me to look away for a moment. When I looked back my eyes widened.

Flocks of birds. Each one the size of an eagle and with feathers that shimmered in the sunlight like polished metal. Their beaks were a shining bronze color that looked sharp enough to punch a hole straight through a wooden plank with ease.

Adamos explained to me that they were Stymphalian birds and how best to kill them. I looked at my watch. "I got a few minutes to spare." I said before turning around and walking straight into the big house. Mr. D not caring as he read through a magazine and Tantalus off somewhere, probably contemplating extreme puppy kicking.

I went into Chiron's old room and grabbed a large boombox that sat on a shelf and a cassette of some kind. 'Summer of 94' was written on the cassette.

I quickly left and headed straight to the archery ranges, finding the Apollo cabin doing an archery lesson.

"Hey Lee!" I called out, waving to the head of the Apollo cabin.

"Oh, Percy." He gave me a smile that I returned. A few others from the Apollo cabin sent me glares, probably because of the loss from this morning. Not Lee though, he was always a chill guy who never let things get to him. "What's up?"

"I kinda need your help." I went straight to business. "I found some monsters within camp and figure that the archery class could appreciate some moving targets."

Lee's expression turned serious. "Monsters? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Large bird ones. And seeing how I'm such a good friend," Lee let out a snort at that. "I figured I could give the Apollo cabin the win after this morning." I gave him a mirth filled grin causing him to chuckle.

"Well who are we to turn down such a challenge." He said in a non-serious tone before turning back to everyone on the range. "Alright everyone! Grab your bows and as many arrows as you can carry. We've got an extermination." It spoke volumes of how much respect Lee had in camp that everyone on the range immediately stopped what they were doing to follow his orders.

After a few moments I nodded as everyone seemed ready to go. I turned around and walked with them following after me to where I found the birds. I had already put the cassette in the boombox and placed it on the ground. The birds did nothing except watch as the entire archery class prepared their bows.

As soon as I pressed play the birds descended into madness. Not that I could blame them as Chiron always had the worst taste in music and this cassette seemed to have been put together by Hades using an orchestra of the damned to support the vocal stylings of the Furies, with Mrs. Dodds as the lead vocalist.

The archers let lose their arrows and slowly, but surely the swarm of monster pigeons began to decrease until the ground was covered in gold dust, broken and unbroken arrows, and bird carnage. Part way through a crowd had gathered to watch, possibly to see if the fields of punishment had sprouted in the middle of camp based on the noise.

I shut down the horrid torture sounds coming from the boombox. The archery class was high fiveing and congratulating each other as they picked up the arrows that could still be used.

I stuck my hand out and got a nice sounding slap from Lee before he went of to talk to the class, probably to give some pointers.

I however walk off to continue what I was doing.

Well…after I destroyed the 'Summer of 94'.

* * *

**Flashback End**

* * *

We had country fried Stymphalian bird that night. It tasted as if the Colonel himself had cooked for us.

But enough of the succulent and juicy bird meat. I need to get on with how the rest of the days at camp went.

Overall, the work was going well. I managed to place all of the spikes that I could, and I even got Kevin to spread the ones in the deeper parts of the forest that I couldn't get to. I mean I still had camp activities to get too so I couldn't just keep disappearing.

Annabeth was already getting suspicious whenever I wandered off into the woods or wasn't hanging around Lou or the other campers, but she and the rest of her cabin were to focus on the race to care.

The camp was in such a state of alert that me being missing wasn't too noticeable. But that also meant that if I was caught it would not end well. I mean I was sure that I could talk my way out of any accusations, but that would still end with eyes one me far more than I would like.

The worst thing though were the dreams. The day before the whole race I had a dream about Grover. It was mostly garbled, but I did manage to get the key points. He was stranded somewhere. He needed my help. He was running out of time.

I told Adamos about this, but he didn't want anything to do with Grover's rescue. He said, and I quote 'If the mongrel is stupid enough to get himself caught than he should try to get out himself'. Though there was a bit of ranting in foreign languages.

I think I heard some Japanese and maybe some…Russian?

Whatever he was speaking it seemed there weren't enough words in a single language for him to express his distaste for Satyrs as a whole.

Dude really needs to chill.

Anyways the bounded field was up just in time for the chariot race this morning. If I was expecting something amazing, I was wrong. Other than a brief shimmer in the air it wasn't anything visually spectacular. But then again it was an invisible barrier so I guess I should have expected it. But at least it should be filling the gaps that exist and any future ones that pop up. It wouldn't stop something from coming in if it was determined enough, I'd need more time and materials for that, but it was able to repel something small and drive off any monsters that come near.

It was basically as if I light one of those candles that drove away insects. But for monsters.

I wonder if I can bottle this and sell it?

Is 15 drachmas to big a price for someone's life?

Never mind. Thoughts for later.

Anyways I managed to finish and come to watch the last parts of the chariot race as Clarisse managed to edge out a victory over the Athena and Hephaestus cabin.

According to Lou, who gladly gave me the play by play, it started out well enough with the places shifting constantly until the Hephaestus chariot managed to pull ahead thanks to the upgrades that Beckendorf and Tyson made to their chariot, which they name 'The Mediterranean Stallion' along with their mechanical horses.

This led to an unofficial team up between the other teams to take out the leader.

The first team out were the Demeter cabin due to a flask of Greek Fire igniting their wooden chariot, 'The Amber Grain', and forcing them to jump ship.

The Apollo cabin chariot, 'The Golden Note', went next courtesy of Lou. She wasn't a charioteer but that didn't stop her from sneaking into the Apollo cabins staging area and cursing the thing to cause extreme motion sickness to its riders. The Golden Note wasn't looking so golden after that.

The Hermes chariot, 'The Traveler', was unfortunate enough to git hit by a mini ballista bolt from the Mediterranean Stallion and lost a wheel.

That left only the Hephaestus cabin, the Athena cabin in their chariot, 'Peerless Wisdom', I had to resist rolling my eyes because even their chariot name sounds condescending, and the Ares cabin in their chariot, 'The Big Bitch'.

I bit back a laugh when Lou told me that Clarisse was the one to name it that.

Anyways it was a three-way tie for first until Clarisse managed to pull a pretty slick maneuver that managed to get the Hephaestus and Athena chariots to ram into each other and slow each other down enough to pull into first.

Then came the Athena cabin followed by Hephaestus in third.

The entire camp was in a festive mood after that and it carried over until the bonfire after dinner. According to Lou it was the highest the magical flames had been in a while as it roared twenty feet high in a bright orange golden color. Most days it was barely five feet and warm. That was a bit concerning considering the flames reflected the emotional state of the campers and I had never seen the flames so low during my stay last year. But that didn't even compare to how high the flames went after Annabeth stood up.

Turns out I wasn't the only one to get the Grover dream as Annabeth explained how she received a dream from Grover about the Golden Fleece. It was a bit surprising, but I figured he called Annabeth after me since the dream message I got was so garbled. He must have thought it failed and tried again.

It didn't take much before the campers were all shouting for a quest, causing the flame to rise even higher and burn hotter.

Between the chanting and the heat, it seemed Tantalus had finally reached the breaking point of his patience and caved.

He officially declared a quest to be taken by the champion of the chariot races, Clarisse, and a member from the cabins that came in second and third place.

I was silently cursing the fact that I missed out on my chances of officially taking the quest, but I did have more important things to do.

The cabins decided that they were going to send Annabeth and Beckendorf as the other two on the quest while Clarisse went to consult the oracle.

I quietly wondered if I looked as pale and freaked out as she did when I first went to the oracle. Looking at her as she came back was weird as the normally confident and angry girl looked like she just witnessed a mass murder in front of her and was desperately trying to hold it together.

Then that leaves us to now.

With me sitting on the beach drinking Coca Cola and watching the stars as I try to figure out how to go about this. My magical backpack next to me being where I kept pulling soda from. Hestia already told me the coordinates to find the Fleece from where Adamos last located it, but tat meant nothing if I couldn't get to it.

I asked Adamos where it was specifically, and the answer did not inspire much confidence.

The Sea of Monsters.

Because of fucking course, it has to have an ominous sounding name.

I really wanted to bring Lou and Tyson along with me. Not to put them in danger or anything but with the whole rule of three thing I needed two others and I felt like they would be very useful.

"You're not an easy guy to find." Someone next to me said, I was so lost in my own thoughts that I never noticed the guy sitting next to me in the sand.

My hand went to my pocket, ready to draw Riptide at a moment's notice but froze when I got a good look at the man sitting next to me.

He wore a red nylon track suit with white shoes, but the pointed ears and mischievous smirk are all the evidence that I need.

"Lord Hermes." I muttered and his smirk widened just a fraction.

"**I liked it better when he had longer hair."** Adamos commented which I ignored.

"Mind if I?" He asked and I didn't understand what he wanted till I saw that he was looking at the pack of soda. Not seeing any reason and even more so not wanting to offend a god that was five feet from me. "Thanks." He took one of the cans and it instantly chilled in his hand as he popped it open and chugged it in one go.

"Whew, I can't tell you how long it's been since I had a break." Then as if tempting the universe itself his phone rang causing him to let out a sigh. "Five minutes. Is that too much to ask." The messenger god mutters before opening his phone and pulling a 180 and putting on a chipper attitude. "Hello this is Hermes of Olympus Deliveries!"

I watched in morbid fascination as the god went through a rollercoaster of emotions as he talked on the phone, which when I look closely realized it had tiny live snakes on the antenna.

He went from professional and polite to angry to resigned all the way back to professional and polite.

"Sorry about that." Hermes gave me an apologetic look. "The overnight express is booming and I'm a bit understaffed. I've had to delegate to Eris." I felt Adamos focus on Hermes. Like he was trying to interrogate and scare him through will alone. It must have worked as the traveler god let out an involuntary shiver. "Anyways," He gave a look confused look around. "As I was saying—"

"You have snakes on your phone." I slapped a hand over my mouth as the words fell out.

"**Smooth move genius."**

"_Shut up!"_

Hermes just laughed as he pulled out the device. "I do. Go ahead, they don't bite. Say hello George, Martha."

"Hello George and Martha." A male voice hissed.

"Don't be so sarcastic." Came a female voice.

Hermes gave his phone a weird look. "That's odd. They usually speak through the mind."

"Can't." Martha hissed. "The boys got a mental block."

"Shut us out immediately." George followed up.

Hermes gave me an inquisitive look. It was taking all I had not to freak out. "I've…gotten a few magic lessons from Hestia." I said. It wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't a lie either. Hestia gave me a few pointers whenever I was stuck and explained the whole mist manipulation for me. I could have asked Adamos but sometimes you just need a second opinion.

Hermes raised a brow at the explanation. It was clear that he wasn't entirely convinced but didn't see the need to press any further. I silently prayed to Hestia for forgiveness for throwing her under the bus. "You're a rather interesting kid Percy."

"**She won't mind. She's way to nice to hold a grudge."**

"Thank you?" I wasn't sure about the compliment but chose to ignore the inner commentary.

"So, what are you gonna do?" The messenger god asked. I didn't understand what he was talking about.

"**The quest dummy. He's asking what your gonna do."**

"_Oh." _"The quest, right?" I asked receiving a nod from Hermes. "I don't have permission to go."

"And will that stop you?"

"Not in a million years." I spoke without hesitation. There was no reason to hesitate. Despite what Adamos says Grover is my friend and I would never leave him if he needed.

Hermes smiled. "That's just the answer I was looking for."

I gave the god a disbelieving look. "Isn't it your job as a responsible adult to stop me from breaking the rules?"

"Pfft! Rules." Hermes chuckled. As if the very idea was ludicrous. "Let me tell you something that someone else told me. If you know how to get away with something than rules are just guidelines."

"Who told you that, because that sounds like horrible advice." I couldn't help but ask. I felt a swell of indignation from inside for some reason.

"A very immature older brother." He said with a smirk as if he was telling me an inside joke that only he knew, but I had a suspicion on the joke. "But enough of that. Martha the first package." He spoke to the snakes as he transformed his phone into a golden Caduceus.

"Finally, it feels so good to be in full form." Martha hissed before her mouth opens exponentially wide, depositing a package into Hermes' awaiting hand.

It was a stainless-steel canister with pictures of a man wrestling with an assortment of different animals. "A special collector's item from Hercules Busts Heads. First season of course."

"Hercules Busts Heads."

"Great show." Hermes sighed. "Well, back before Hephaestus-TV was all reality programming. All though it would be worth a lot more if I had the entire lunch box."

"**Ask him how much the entire set costs."**

"_No. Why do you even care?"_

"**I never got Hephaestus-TV in the other pantheons. No way to get anything from Olympus."**

"_Once again, no! Its just gonna sit and collect dust. There's no reason for you to have it." _I argue back making Adamos grumble in silence, acting more like a child than a god.

"Here." Hermes said tossing me the thermos, breaking me from my thoughts. I fumbled with it as I was caught off guard but managed to get a good grasp on it. I was caught off guard as the Thermos was freezing cold on one side and burning hot on the other. I twisted it around looking at it before it hit me.

"It's a compass!" I exclaimed as no matter how many times I turned it the cold side always pointed to the beach, which was north.

"Clever boy." He said in a faint Australian accent for some reason. "But that's not what its for. Inside it contains the winds from the four corners of the world. Uncap it and you will release them. Not now!" He stopped me as I was about to twist the lid. "Those winds are extremely volatile so you should only open it a little bit. Should all four escape at once…" He didn't finish the sentence, but I could tell it wasn't anything good. "Now for gift numero dos."

This time George was the one to spit out the gift, dispensing what looked like a bottle of chewable vitamins.

"Are they minotaur shaped?" I asked in disbelief

"The lemon flavored are. I think the grape ones are Furies? Or are they hydra?" Hermes shrugs. "At any rate they are quite the potent little things. But don't take them unless you need it. Like, really, really need it."

"And how will I know when I need it?"

"Trust me you'll know. It has all your essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids. Everything you need to feel normal again." The god explained before tossing me the bottle.

"Thanks." I said before giving him a skeptical look. "No offense Lord Hermes, but why are you helping me?"

The travel god gave me a sad smile. "Perhaps it's because I know your going to go no matter what. And perhaps I believe that you can save more than just your friend Grover."

The message was blatant. It was easy to figure out what he wanted. "You want me to save Luke." I stated. Hermes didn't answer but his smile lessened. "I…don't know if I can do that." I said with a sigh. "I don't mean to hurt your hopes Lord Hermes, but I just don't know if I can. He betrayed my trust, he tried to kill me!" I exclaimed to the quiet god. "I just don't know if I can bring myself to try to save him. And even if I did find him…he wants to destroy us all, burn Olympus into the ground."

Hermes looked to the stars and let out a sigh. "You see those stars? The constellation that surrounds Ursa Minor?" I look up at the sky, instantly seeing the stars connect in ways that no one else could. As Adamos was a god of stars and constellations it made stargazing much easier. That didn't explain to me why he was pointing out the Draco constellation. "I was there when that constellation was put into the heavens. It seems so long ago but it still remains. It, like so many other stars were personally crafted by a friend of mine that has long since gone, yet they still remain even after so long." Hermes voice grew soft as his eyes had a far-off look.

A sudden wave of emotion hit me, nostalgia, melancholy and resignation.

"What I mean to say dear cousin is that you shouldn't give up so easily on family." Hermes said as he drew himself out of his own stupor. "You can hate them, be embarrassed by them, and even want to strangle them a few times for not giving you respect for inventing the internet,"

"_He invented the internet?"_

"**Emails are still a type of mail now shush!"**

"But they are still family at the end of the day. Do you get what I'm saying Percy?"

"I think I do. _More than you know." _I didn't say that second part. "I won't promise anything but…I'll try."

Hermes gave me an appreciative smile. It wasn't large or shining, but a more smile of a man resigned to what he could get. "That's all I ask." He said before standing up and brushing the sand off his pants. "Now I guess I should be leaving."

"You have sixty calls." Martha said.

"And one thousand-thirty-eight emails." George added.

"This is gonna be my day today." Hermes said massaging his brow. "Anyways your deadline is coming up Percy. I suggest you get ready." He then snapped his fingers and three duffel bags. "If you don't hurry your ship will leave soon.

"Ship." I asked and looked to where Hermes was pointing. There out in the water a large cruise liner was cutting across the Long Island Sound.

"Good luck." Hermes gave me a chipper smile before vanishing into the air. "Ask your father for a ride out there." His voice became softer with each word, as if it was being carried away by the wind. "Trust me. He'll help you and you friends."

"My friends?" But I shouldn't have bothered to ask as he was already gone.

"Percy!" I heard and turned around, spotting Lou and Tyson jogging down the beach to me.

"What are you guys doing here?" I hissed as I looked around to make sure that the harpies weren't following them.

"I heard you calling for help!" Lou said as she fingered the hilt of her sword.

"Yeah." Tyson nodded. "Heard you yell about bad things attack."

"I didn't." I waved their concerns off.

"Then what—" Lou asked but noticed the three duffels bags. She was quiet for a few moments until… "I'm in."

"What?" I asked.

"I said I'm in." Lou repeated herself with a smile. "What ever your doing I'm coming along." She put her hands on her hips and looked at me with a smile that said no was not an acceptable response.

I let out a sigh. "Only you Lou."

"I want to go," Tyson joined in.

I gave Lou a glare that she took like a champ. "I'm not apologizing." She said without the slightest hint of remorse.

"You know if we do this we could be expelled from camp, or die?"

"If we succeed than they can't complain." The little witch girl shrugged. "And besides, death's an occupational hazard for us."

"I can't even argue with any of that." I laughed as the demigoddess gave me a victorious grin.

"Maybe we help the others too." Tyson added in with a goofy smile. That reminded me that three others were going to be on this quest as well

If we did come across them, I knew Tyson would want to help them if only because Beckendorf was one of the three campers. The children of Hephaestus had all become friends with Tyson during his time, Beckendorf especially.

"I guess we have a ship to catch." I said pointing to the ship out in the sound.

"How are we supposed to get there? I mean I do a pretty mean breaststroke but that seems a bit much." Lou said as she looked out to the ship.

"I was told to ask my dad for help." I said as I walked to the surf. "Uh…" I froze as I realized I didn't know what to say.

"**What are you waiting for? Ask him."** Adamos prodded.

"_It's not that easy. Its not like we talk regularly."_ I snapped.

"**You're not giving the Gettysburg Address. You just need to ask for some help."**

"_What if he says no?"_

"**He's not going to say no now get on with it!" **Adamos sounded like he was on the verge of snapping and doing it for me.

"Uh…hey dad. I need to get to that ship and could use a ride."

…

…

…

"_I don't think he's listening."_

"**Just give it a minute."**

As if on cue three white streaks tore through the water at high speeds before rising out of the water.

"Fish ponies!" Tyson dried out with glee.

"Wow." Lou whispered in awe.

"They're Hippocampi." I supplied courtesy of Adamos.

"You both can admire them later. Grab a duffel and get on." I said as I grabbed two of the duffels and threw it at them. Tyson was broken out of his stupor as he caught his with an oof. Lou however was not as sturdy and nearly fell on her ass. I silently laugh while ignoring her glare. I grabbed my own duffel and backpack and got on the Hippocampi. Tyson got on one that was bigger than the others.

"You both ready?" I asked and received a nod from both of them. "Giddyup!" I called and we were off.

**A/N:**

**Heyo. How are you all doing? Good? Good. Schools coming up and I hope everyone is able to safely get through the boring and tormenting hell that is math (Or whatever subject you hate) **

**Stay safe you sexy beasts.**


	31. Chapter 30: Cruises Suck

Percy talking

_Percy thoughts_

_**Adamos talking**_

**Adamos thoughts**

**Characters are owned by Rick**

**(except Adamos he's mine)**

**Chapter 30**

**Cruises Suck**

"YAY FISH PONIES!"

"Tyson don't be so loud. They might hear you."

"Yay fish ponies." Tyson cheered in an excited whisper.

I chuckled a little bit as Lou, Tyson, and I rode the Hippocampus towards the cruise ship. The mythical mounts cut through the water so effortlessly it was almost as if there was no resistance at all.

I turned around to look back at the camp, only to see a dark smudge fading into the background. I click my tongue at the thought of what's to come when the camp finds out we left. Mr. D probably didn't even care, not that he cared when I was setting up the bounded field. Tantalus would probably ban us, but it wouldn't matter when we succeed. The other questers would probably be pretty pissed, but it'd be pretty funny.

I felt the hippocampus slow down and I got good look at the ship. It was so much bigger than I thought it would be.

The white hull stretched up ten stories with a dozen more decks topping it with brightly lit portholes and balconies. Faintly I could hear conga music coming from the main balcony. The ships name was painted on the side in bronze lettering, lit up by spotlights.

PRINCESS ANDROMEDA

Attached to the bow was a three-story tall woman in a white chiton dress. She was carved as if she was chained to the front of the ship, her young and beautiful face twisted into a terrified scream.

"_Why do I get the feeling this is some kind of sick joke against me?"_

"**Welcome to the club Percy. Where your loved by many and hated by even more. Give Denice your measure measurements and you'll get the complimentary robe in a few days." **Adamos spoke in a casual tone.

"…_Are you the only member of the club?" _

Adamos was quiet, the only sound was the drinking of some liquid. **"…Silk is very comfy."**

"Hey, look a service ladder." Lou called out over the sound of the waves.

I looked over to see a bunch of metal handles riveted to the starboard side of the ship's hull. I nodded at Lou and she swung her bag over her shoulder and started climbing. I waited she was high enough before climbing after her. The sound of hysterical laughter brought my attention back down below.

Tyson seemed to be having the time of his life as he and his hippocampi were doing tricks. The hippocampus was jumping out of the water spinning in midair. I'll admit that it looked like a lot of fun and they were some sick tricks but now wasn't the time…no matter how tempting it was. "Tyson. Keep quiet and come on." I called trying to get his attention.

"Can we bring Rainbow with us?" He asked with pleading eyes, er—eye.

I immediately pair Rainbow with the hippocampus that he's riding. "Rainbow doesn't have hands bud. And I don't think he would enjoy being out of the water for too long."

I don't think I had ever seen Tyson so sad until that moment. He hugged Rainbow by neck. "Goodbye Rainbow. I will miss you!" At that moment I could have sworn the hippocampus was crying as well. Then with reluctant acceptance Tyson climbed onto the rails and began to ascend.

We climbed until we made it to some sort of maintenance deck, although what were we expecting from a service ladder. All around us were yellow lifeboats and a set of locked double doors at one end.

"You think you can make it through to the other side through there?" I nudged Lou for a moment and pointed at the vent in a corner of the room, one that I'm pretty sure the short girl could fit through if she squeezed herself.

"Bite me." She snapped back with and elbow into my arm that I laughed off. She then walked over to the door and began to work her magic until the door unlocked itself. She must have seen my questioning look. "A neat little trick that earned me quite a few free dinners." She said with a smirk.

I just shrug while I cloak myself in shadows while Lou goes invisible. Neither of us wanting to be discovered. Lou then spreads the mist even more so over Tyson so that hopefully no one notices him either. He giggles a little saying that it tickles.

With the three of us properly cloaked we head out, making sure to a least stay closer to the darker places and away from being out in the open as much as possible.

"Its quiet. Too quiet." I said as I looked around. We had passed by thirty or so cabins, yet no sound could be heard from them. We were currently walking through a set of shops that were set up on the deck of the ship. most likely food stalls.

"I can't believe that you just said that." Lou grumbled.

I look over to where I assume, she is. "Hey, I have a list that I plan to get through. You never know when some kind of monster will kill you." I said with a shrug. "Although I don't know how I will stumble across two different ways to achieve eternal youth."

"Why would you go looking for it twice?"

"So, if I lose it both times I can say 'the secret of eternal youth alludes me yet again!' or such things."

"…makes sense." Lou nods with complete understanding.

Tyson meanwhile is munching on a large bag of kettle corn…that he found somewhere.

"So, does anyone else think this place reeks of magic." I asked as I look around. It was a feeling that I had been having for a while, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Tyson just starts shoveling kettle corn more nervously as he looks around, nodding in agreement.

"Totally." Lou says as she eyes her surroundings.

"You wanna rob them for of their shit before crashing." I asked with a smirk. One which was mirrored by Lou as we went around grabbing random stuff around the ship and stuffing it into my infinibag. We stole a cotton candy machine, a few thousand in mortal cash, a metric fuck ton of party food, gallons of soda and water, a soft pretzel machine and various other things. And thus, starts the legend of Percy Jackson: The Pirate King.

"**I whole heartedly agree with this course of action."** I could feel the grin coming from Adamos at the thought of pillaging from the suspicious ship.

* * *

**X**

* * *

After stealing as much stuff as we could the three of us found an empty room to crash in together. I mean we're on a suspicious ship that reeks of magic. There is no way in Hades that we should split up. In the duffel bags were the standard supplies that I got from my first quest. Cash, toiletries, clothes, drachmas, ambrosia and nectar, and even Tyson's oilcloth of tinker projects.

Tyson had taken the couch while Lou slept next to me on the large bed. We were still sleeping practically shoulder to shoulder, but it was at least large enough to spare a few inches between us.

That didn't keep the demigoddess from stealing all of the blankets on the bed.

I try to take some of the blankets back over to my side, but the short girl has them wrapped around her like a cocoon…that's padlocked with steel chains.

"**You know your not getting those back."**

"_I figured that out after the fourth try."_ I say as I rest my arm over my face.

"**Hmm…" **Adamos hummed in fondness. **"Athena always stole the sheets when we slept together."**

"_And how did you manage to get them back?"_

"**Who said I ever got them back?" **Adamos spoke with mirth. **"You either give up and let her have the blankets or…"**

"_Or…?"_

"**Or you get really intimate~"**

The room seemed to heat up a hundred degrees as I felt the blood rush to my cheeks at the implication. _"No no no no no nonononononono." _I mentally repeat as I fast walk to the door.

"**And where do you think your going?" **Adamos asks, clearly amused.

"To get…" I say before shutting up, my voice a slightly higher pitch. _"To find a storeroom and get some blankets."_ I mentally say before walking out of the room and closing he door as quietly as I could.

Once I make it outside, I cloak myself under the night and walk as quietly and quickly as I could. My feet going from heel to toe to reduce the sound as shrouded in the power of night I may be that doesn't exactly reduce sound.

"Storeroom, storeroom, storeroom…" I quietly mutter as I look around for anything that could be marked as such. With many of the lights on I can't just take from there in case someone resides inside.

I went through a door leading to the interior of the ship. I couldn't trust a map they had as I knew that they wouldn't have what I was looking for. I mean, why would a guest need to know where the storerooms were.

"Where the hell is it?" I grumbled as I took a swig from a water bottle. I had been looking through a bunch of rooms that I thought it would be and found a bunch of activity rooms as well as the kitchen, where I snagged a bottle of water.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as a shiver goes down my spine.

"**Hide! Now!"** Adamos orders and I don't bother to argue as I immediately duck into the nearest room. It was just my luck that the room I chose to hide in was the very room I had been looking for. Piles of blankets and bed sheets sat around me in neat folded piles. Not really caring I hopped into a laundry cart filled to the brim with dirty bed sheets.

Like a small, frightened child I wrapped my self in the blankets and tried to press myself further down into the cart, slowing my breathing as much as I could.

My heartbeat in my chest as listened. My breath was trapped under the blankets, making the hiding place turn warm.

I could hear multiple pairs of footsteps thumping against the floor. Each one far heavier than a normal person should make. A subtle growl fills my ears along with a faint hiss. I try to reach out with my senses to feel out what exactly is outside the room, but some thing is that I can't feel anything. I can definitely feel the water that's beneath us but for some reason it feels out of reach.

"**If there was any evidence that somethings wrong with this ship its this." **Adamos spoke seriously. "**Whatever magic is here is strong enough to turn this ship into its own territory."**

I remembered the lesson that Adamos had on bounded fields. They potentially could rewrite the authority of an entire area if provided with enough power, but that would require access to a leyline and some very powerful wards that could withstand the raw power of the leyline. But the problem with that is that leylines don't move from where they are, meaning that something powerful is providing enough power affect a moving ship this size.

"_But the ship is moving. It should be impossible to make a moving territory."_ I say as I poke my head out from under the pile of blankets, trying to listen in on whatever was beyond those doors in case they approached.

"**Not if you're a deity." **Adamos spoke seriously as the sounds outside stopped.

I pressed myself lower yet still out enough to keep an eye on the door. I have to strain my ears, but it seemed to be enough to pick up on what they were saying.

"—can smell it around here." A deep voice growled.

"Of course, you can." Another one scoffed, this one a female. "The entire ship has been filled with them. Their stench is everywhere."

"No, this one is stronger. It smells like…the sea."

"We are on a boat." Another voice spoke this one had a rasp like a smoker. "Surrounded by the ocean. It always smells like that!"

"But—"

"I don't want to hear it." The female snapped. "You dragged us out here for nothing. I could be getting a facial right now from that cute masseur in the spa."

"You know he doesn't know who you are right." The deep voiced male voice spoke.

"A girl can dream!" The female snapped and stomped off.

"Now look at what you did." The raspy voice gave a despondent sigh before leaving. The other guy following after them asking what he did wrong.

I waited a few minutes before getting out of the cart. I grabbed a blanket off of the shelf and looked around before sprinting as quietly as I could back to my room. This place was definitely odd and come morning we were going to have to leave as quickly as possible.

* * *

**X**

* * *

After a rather restless yet somehow fulfilling sleep, I should look into water beds when I get back, I told Lou and Tyson about what I heard and felt when I went to get the blanket last night. Both were apprehensive when it came to leave. Not about leaving, no, they were nervous at what could be out there now that it was daytime.

The sound of countless steps could be heard outside our room. Voices communing with one another.

The three of us poked our heads out of the door, and if anyone was paying attention, they would probably resemble us to a totem pole. We only fully left the room with all of our stuff when we realized that it was only regular people walking about.

We tried to blend into the crowd as seamlessly as we could, but it was far to easy. Even when I bumped into some one, they just brushed it off, barely paying any mind to me.

It was only then when I got a good look at the woman I bumped into. Her eyes were unfocused and glazed. The same kind of eyes that I had seen in the homeless drug users in New York. Or in the eyes of those effected by the mist.

Even what they were saying sounded completely robotic. Their sentences were stunted and straight to the point. As if some one had written horrible dialogue in a story. They were always explaining what they were doing, like going to the pool and that they were excited to spend time in the pool before going to get ice cream at the sundae bar. It was honestly a bit cringy to hear and Adamos had long since shut the horrid dialogue out.

As we explored around, we came up to a balcony on one of the higher floors and immediately ducked behind the white painted metal plates used for railing. Down below us a large grouping of monsters formed a circle with one of them at the center.

Hacking a straw dummy with a sword.

A straw dummy in a very familiar orange camp shirt.

I watched as the one in the center gut the camper stand-in, sending the straw flying into the air. The crowd cheered and we immediately left.

"We need to leave." I whispered as we tried to blend in with the crowd of mindless mortals.

"Yes," Tyson muttered as he chewed on his fingernails. "Leaving good."

"But how? We're surrounded by miles ocean." Lou pointed out.

"My guess would have to be to find some lifeboats." I said while rubbing my chin. "But we don't know where those are."

"**I might have a way, but we'll need something round. Maybe a hockey puck or a casino token."**

"_Where are we going to find th—_WOAH!" I yelped as I slipped on something. Saved from bashing my head against the floor by Tyson and Lou catching my arms as I fell. "Thanks." I said as I got to my feet. I looked down to see what exactly that I nearly fell over. To find a shuffleboard puck.

It seemed that in all of our walking getting away from the monsters we accidentally wandered into a section of the ship designated specifically to shuffleboard.

"Guys, I have an idea, but it requires a lot of pucks."

* * *

**X**

* * *

"Is that all?"

"Percy. I can only give so many pucks." Lou grounded out in annoyance as she dumped a load of shuffleboard pucks into a small pile. "This is already enough to be suspicious. Do you need anymore?"

I sat on the floor of our accommodated cabin and was writing a simple sell into the pucks. It was a rather simple spell that was complex at the same time. Normally this was a spell meant for tracking, but with a little alteration and such and increasing the number Adamos says that it can be used for scouting. And with the second set of spell craft written on the bottom, a little surprise if needed.

"No. I think I have about all the pucks I can handle." I say with a grimace as I roll my wrist. Damn, I might have carpal tunnel after this.

Without another word Lou sits down and starts to help me and Tyson go through the pile. With the three of us it only takes ten minutes as they are rather naturally gifted at this kind of tinkering.

With but a snap of my fingers all of the pucks line up in even lines like soldiers waiting for marching orders. Lou lets out a little gasp in awe and Tyson giggles at the display.

"I want this entire ship mapped out and searched. Now go." I ordered and the pucks complied. Each one scurrying off like a mouse as I open the door slightly, some of them squeezing through the vents in the room and any other place they can fit.

Within minutes I can already tell that the puck scouts are already doing their work as I pull my magical tome out of my backpack. A blank page being inscribed with the appropriate magic circle and a 3-D projection of the ship begins to form. Little blue blips making up the scouts while yellow ones are passengers and red ones are monsters.

"That is so cool." Lou whispered as the nearly hundred blue blips move around forming the 3-D ship. Even the rooms are formed to the smallest detail.

"What's that?" Tyson asked and I took a look at what he was pointing at. It was a blank area on the holographic ship.

"Let's find out." I mutter as I draw another circle off to the side and connect them. Immediately one of the pucks changes courses to the room and sound begins to form from the magic.

"—you really think that old centaur is gone for good?" A rough voice asked. It was deep and gruff like an old biker.

"They can't trust him." A far younger voice spoke out. My eyes widened as even after a year I still recognized Luke's voice. Quickly and only with Adamos steadying my hands I drew a magic circle to record the conversation on a blank page. "Not with the skeletons in his closet. Poisoning the tree was the last straw. And with all the monsters gathering within the hold we will be strong enough to start some of our more aggressive plays."

"Can't wait." I could feel the mad smile the gruff voice was making. "Demigods make for good eats."

"Good eats! Good eats!" A second voice just as gruff as the first laughed out, almost like he was having an asthma attack with how long it was going on.

"Shut up Oreius!" The first voice roared. "Go punish yourself." The first voice ordered. The steady yet distinct sound of a head hitting something kept a steady rhythm.

"**If that was truly Oreius, then the other one must be his twin Agrius. The twins born much like the minotaur but replace the bull with a bear."**

"As I was saying…" Luke restarted the conversation, sounding like he was trying to regain the seriousness that was just lost. "We will be able to go with some of our more advanced plays. Some of our sponsors have been pushing for some more 'immediate' results.

"Their results can wait." Agrius huffed. "Gathering the monsters is what's important."

"Indeed. If we can gather a large enough gathering of beasts to protect the ship than it won't matter what they want. We'll have enough freedom to travel anywhere in the oceans and increase our recruitments for the coffin."

"Oreius, cut that out!" Agrius snapped at his brother as the steady thumps stop. "IF you keep that up you'll suff—"

I shut of the connection and look at my two companions. Lou's face scrunched up in seriousness and Tyson not really understanding past that the situation was bad.

"I don't like the sound of this coffin." I mutter as I get up with the two of them following me as I lead us to the nearest lifeboats on the deck below us.

I lift the cover of the boat and quickly usher Tyson and Lou inside.

"Hey!" The three of us whirl around as a pair of Laistrygonian giants shout at me as they see Lou and Tyson sneak into the lifeboat. They barrel through the mindless mortals, knocking tourists and employees to the ground without a care.

"Shit!" I curse as I jump into the boat with them. Without thinking I pull Riptide out of my pocket and cut the cable. Apparently, Lou had the same idea and cut the opposite cable with me, sending us down into the waters below, just narrowly dodging the large hand trying to grab my head.

I couldn't tell which of us was screaming the loudest as we fell. "Hang on!" I shout, trusting that they heard me over their own shouting. I reached into my duffle bag grabbing the thermos and holding it close. It nearly fumbles out of my hand as we hit the water.

"**Quarter turn!" **Adamos reminds me.

I hooked my feet under the boats bench as Tyson grabbed both Lou and me, holding us in a tight embrace. I pray that this works as I turn the thermos a quarter way. The wind screams in joy at its newfound freedom as a white jet blast us sideways.

The lifeboat skims along the waves faster than even the hippocampi. It wasn't that long until the Princess Andromeda was but a speck in the distance.

**A/N: Heyo. Another chapter here and while its not the best one I hope that what I have planned for the rest of the second book is entertaining. Anyways remember to leave a review if you like. If you want an Omake I'll try to fulfill it if it fits with what I'm going. If you have advice to help the story improve. Go for it. **


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